Do you like meaningless stats, trends, and talking points? I do. So much so that I’m going to bring a handful to you each week this football season in a blurb titled “Cy the Numbers” because the best way to introduce pointless stats is with corny puns. Check back each week for updated stats and trends, and remember not to use any of this as betting advice because I’m sure to be sued if you did.
Team Trends
- Opponent
- Iowa State is 1-3 against Texas in the Matt Campbell era, defeating the #19 Longhorns on a walk-off field goal in Ames last season.
- The Longhorns lead the overall series 14-3, with the Cyclones claiming all three wins since the 2010 season.
- Iowa State has never beat Oklahoma and Texas in the same season. A win against Texas would put the Cyclones in the driver’s seat to its first Big 12 title game berth.
- Time/date/weather
- The Cyclones are 10-8 in the month of November under Campbell. They have won 4 of their last 5 games in November.
- Iowa State is 14-5 in kickoffs before noon since 2017.
- The Cyclones are 0-3 in weekday games under Campbell (Oklahoma, 2016 (Thursday); Texas, 2017 (Thursday); Washington State, 2018 (Friday))
- Uniforms
- The Cyclones will be wearing red helmets, white jerseys, and white pants. Iowa State is 3-1 in this combo under Campbell, with the most recent win coming against Kansas earlier this season.
Record Watch
- Running back Breece Hall recorded his 8th-straight 100-yard performance against Kansas State, rushing for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 15 carries. He is the nation’s leading rusher.
- Hall is just 1 of 4 players in FBS since 1996 to rush for 100 yards and score a rushing touchdown in the first eight games of the season.
- He has just one fumble in 404 career touches.
- Breece leads the Big 12 in 14 statistical categories and is top-3 nationally in 13 of those categories.
- Hall recently ranked 4th in The Athletic’s weekly Heisman Straw Poll and the highest among running backs. His numbers are on pace with recent Heisman winners:
- Running back and kick returner Kene Nwangwu currently ranks 1st in school history in career kickoff return average (27.1 yards per return) and is 2nd nationally this season in kickoff return average (31.0 ypr).
- Linebacker Mike Rose continues to impress, finishing the Kansas State game with 7 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a QB hurry, and picked off his 4th pass of the season (1st in the Big 12, 3rd nationally). He leads the team in tackles (63), interceptions (4), and QB hurries (4).
- Quarterback Brock Purdy is quickly heating up after a slow start to the season. In his last 5 quarters of play, he is 25-of-32, 344 yards, 6 touchdown passes, and 104 yards rushing.
Random Ramblings
- The Cyclones’ 45-0 win against Kansas State marked just the 5th time in school history the Cyclones recorded a 45-point win—3 of those victories have come under Campbell (Texas Tech (66-10), 2016; Kansas (45-0), 2018; Kansas State (45-0), 2020).
- The Cyclones are ranked #15 by the AP Poll heading into this game, marking the 7th time Iowa State will play as a ranked team this season. Texas enters the game ranked #20, marking the 6th top-25 matchup of the Campbell era. Iowa State is 1-4 in such games, losing the last 4.
- Under Campbell, the Cyclones are 9-7 as a ranked team.
- Iowa State has matched its record for conference wins at 6, making them 1 win away from a new school record.
- Iowa State’s offense continues to lead the Big 12 in yards per play at 6.9 (nice).
- The Cyclones are on pace to break the school record for points per game (34.4) and are scoring 37.3 points per contest in Big 12 games.