#22 Iowa State beats #17 Kansas State 24-21
Iowa State focus: Can Rocco Becht succeed without his shiny toys?
Kansas State focus: Wildcats look to feast early on the ground and run wild
The first half of this game was beautifully sloppy. Unfortunately, KSU RB Dylan Edwards fumbled, and got injured, on his first touch of the game, the first punt of the game. In the preview, as you can see from the Kansas State focused headline, I discussed their offense having a good day on the ground. Losing Edwards hurt, and his replacement touched the ball just 12 times for 51 yards. The Wildcats only ran for 110 yards, far less than they expect to in a game. Meaning, they had to rely on Avery Johnson throwing the football, which is not his strong suit. There were times he looked like he couldn’t grip the ball, maybe due to the rain, maybe just small hands? But I was baffled when he finished with 70% completion rate going 21/30 for 273 yards and 2 TDs (he ran for 21 yards and a TD as well). After the rough start, he did find his rhythm and threw both of his TD passes in the second half, one was 37 yards to Jayce Brown (finished with 4 catches for 78 yards and the 1 TD), the other was 65 yards to Jerand Bradley (finished with 3 catches for 75 yards and the 1 TD). The TE Garrett Oakley reeled in 5 catches and 62 yards, proving that Avery Johnson will have the passing weapons this season. But they need to find that run game that has been a staple of KSU. So, the Wildcats did not run wild, and relying on Avery Johnson’s arm feels like is not the answer, but overall he played okay…. Except he should run the ball more than 8 times a game. It is what he is best at. They will look for a big bounce back with an easy game against North Dakota next week. Frankly, if Avery Johnson can stay this much improved in terms of efficiency (58% completion rate last year), and yes he won’t throw 70% every game, but if he can stay in the mid 60s, this team can get rolling with how their schedule falls the next month (vs North Dakota, vs Army, @ Arizona, vs UCF).
Iowa State finished with 70 less yards of offense than Kansas State did. There were times were Rocco Becht seemed to lack pocket awareness, and made some ugly throws, but he did make the best throws of the game, dropping 2 dime balls for TDs. Both were 23 and 24 yards (note to self: lets see if this is Rocco’s fade ball sweet spot throughout the season); WR Dominic Overby caught the 24 yard TD in the first quarter, WR Brett Eskildsen caught the 23 yard TD late in the third quarter. Besides a few really beautiful passes, Rocco didn’t look fantastic. He completed just 50% of his passes for 183 yards and a pair of TDs, and did run one TD in (matching Avery with 2 passing TDs and 1 rushing). So, Rocco didn’t look fantastic in his first game without his shiny toys, but he absolutely has the talent to end up being in contention for Big 12 player of the year. Both teams also lost 2 fumbles with no INTs thrown, and Iowa State, simply, executed better when they needed to execute (neither team turned any turnovers into any points). This game was a great first game with a sloppy first half in the rain, and then some back and forth most of the second half with KSU hitting a 65 yard TD to bring it within 3, but their defense couldn’t get ISU off the field for the last 6:23 of the game. RB Abu Sama III struggled on the ground, netting 43 yards averaging just 3.1 yards per carry. RB Carson Hansen was able to average 4.4 yards per carry to 71 yards. Iowa State will look to carry the winning moment (and get the Rocco going more) to an easy win against South Dakota next week, before the early season battle for the Cy-Hawk trophy in week 3.
Fresno State loses big to Kansas 7-31
Kansas Focus: Can QB Jalon Daniels of yesteryear (first 3 games of 2023) return?
Fresno State Focus: The Matt Entz era begins with son of a NFL HOF QB
I will just start with, I was too overly optimistic about Fresno State. Now, calm down, I know you’re thinking “no shit Sherlock,” but what fun is it to assume when we saw what happened with UNLV, or remember that Oregon vs Idaho game last year? I do approach these first few games with optimistic outlook, but I don’t think all these teams will be good. But trying to provide reasons why THEIR fans are excited. And for Fresno State, there isn’t much of anything to be excited for from this game. The son of the HOFer struggled completing 62% of his passes for 179 yards and 2 INTs. The team’s traded TDs to start the game before Kansas scored their second TD on the very next drive. Fresno was feeling optimistic, but after trading punts, Kansas just started pulling away and never looking back thanks to…….
Heeeeeeeeeeee’s baaaaaaaaaaack. Jalon DID look fantastic, and looked really healthy going 18/20 for 176 yards and 2 TDs, add 47 yards rushing in there too. I know it’s just Fresno State, but this still wasn’t an Idaho State (we will get to that, even though I didn’t include in my previews), and Jalon Daniels looked confident, and I already cannot wait to see Kansas get into the meat of their schedule. With how the offenses looked in Farmageddon, Kansas put the Big 12 on notice that they are a force to reckon with this year (at least for now). The team ran for 207 yards, with he leading rusher, Daniel Hishaw running for 69 yards averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Leshon Williams had a TD with 57 yards averaging 9.5 yards per carry. Junior WR Cam Pickett lead the receiving room with 6 catches for 77 yards and 2 TDs. I am officially very excited to see Kansas again after next week’s cupcake in Wagner.
Sam Houston can’t keep pace with Western Kentucky 24-41
Sam Houston Focus: Phil Longo hopes to shine bright with Bearkats, party like it’s 2016
WKU Focus: Can McIvor MacGyver a team chock-full of transfers?
It was not like 2016, but it was better than I thought it was going to be. Still, not very good (converted only 2 of their 14 3rd downs). Sam Houston netted 382 yards, and the Bearkats were up 24-20 after a 43 yard fumble return for a touchdown early in the third quarter. Then they just couldn’t get anything going, they could hardly get past 4 plays in a drive. The biggest saving grace is senior QB Hunter Watson. He completed 63% of his passes for 209 yards and 1 INT. But what he did with his legs 91 yards (6.5 avg) and a TD, Could make him very entertaining to check up on in C-USA matchups. Senior transfer RB (4th school in 4 years) Alton McCaskill ran for 72 yards averaging 6.5 yards per carry and a TD. Senior transfer WR Elijah Green led in receptions (and yards) with 7 catches for 61 yards. There is some small potential for this team to piece some good offensive games together, but they might not see a ton of success until they get into October with UNLV, Hawai’i, and Texas being their next 3 games.
Maverick MvIvor did more than just MacGyver his way through this game, he proved that he will be one of the best, if not the best, QB in C-USA this year. 33/51 for 401 yards and 3 TDs, he also ran one TD in from 7 yards out, his only carry of the game. Senior transfer WR (from Western Illinois) Matthew Henry led with 7 catches for 148 yards and a TD. Junior WR Moussa Barry had 6 catches for 90 yards, and the third leading receptions leader? The exploded onto the scene Freshman RB Marvis Parrish; 6 catches 58 yards and 1 TD, along with 53 rushing yards averaging 4.3 yards per carry. He is going to be a problem for defenses this season. McIvor played great, and clearly has plenty of weapons for WKU to get back to the conference championship game. Maverick is also an early conference player of the year consideration.
Stanford loses on last second FG by Hawai’i 23-20
Stanford Focus: With a little bit of Luck, Stanford hopes to change the trend
Hawai’i Focus: The no’eau QB Micah Alejado enters the limelight
*no’eau is Hawaiian for talented
What a strange and fun game this one turned out to be. First off, I was unable to watch this game because CBS had NFL Preseason football on…. And I couldn’t watch it on Paramount +, it wasn’t even an option in the app. But anyway. Stanford started the game with a 16 play, 7 minutes and 46 seconds drive, that ended in just a FG. Then the goofy fair catch, by Hawai’i, on the next kick-off put Hawai’i on its own goaline. Stanford got a strip sack for a TD to go up 10-0 immediately. After that, Stanford looked almost as bad as we expected, with the exception of Sophomore RB Micah Ford. If you didn’t see this game, this kid is going to be the real deal. Yes 113 yards and a TD, averaging 4.3 yards per carry, against Hawai’i doesn’t sound impressive, but the highlights I saw, this guy is a dog and runs angry. No matter how bad Stanford is this year, I will be checking in on Micah Ford from here on out. Senior transfer QB Ben Gulbranson was….. just not good. 15/30 109 yards and an INT. They were able to sustain a few long drives. 13 play 6:16 long drive ended in a missed FG. A 20-play 9:37 long drive ended in their only offensive TD of the day. With these long drives, and lack of talent, they can’t afford to have a missed FG, ultimately costing them the game. Stanford’s kicker Emmet Kenney went 2/3 missing a 34 yarder. Stanford gets a week off before they have to go to Provo to face BYU. I will say with the ability to sustain long drives, and if they can keep Micah Ford moving, this team will, at the very least, begin trending in the right direction, but still could be a long season.
On the flip side, the kicker for Hawai’i, Kansei Matsuzawa, went 3 for 3 including the 38 yarder as time expired for the win. QB Micah Alejado threw the ball 39 times completing 27 of them (69.2% completion) for 210 yards and 2 TDs (zero interceptions). Efficient, but I almost expected more yards. HIs talent is promising though, and I still think Hawai’i can be a very fun offense to watch throughout the year. Their leading rusher, RB Cam Barfield, touched the ball just 6 times for 45 yards. As anticipated, passing is the focus of this offense, even though the numbers weren’t big. Junior WR Profile Ashlock finished with 9 catches for 69 yards and a TD. Sophomore transfer WR (from Stanford), Jackson Harris, pulled in 6 catches for 59 yards and a TD. The Rainbow Warriors are @ Arizona next week, in Arizona’s first game of the season.
UNLV sneaks past Idaho State 38-31
Dan Mullen nearly avoids being a laughing stock.
I will make this quick. I did not preview this game last week, because I avoid doing deep dives into “cupcake” games. And this Idaho State team has been bad for a long time, though they did win 5 games last year, after averaging less than 3 wins per season for the last 8-9 years prior. UNLV found themselves losing 17-7 at halftime. Then the second half saw a total of 45 points scored by both teams, making a really fun back and forth game. UNLV QB Alex Orji ran had a bad fumble on the goalie, but would get it back with a rushing TD later. He only ran for 34 yards an only threw (and completed) 3 passes for 37 yards. The other QB junior Anthony Colandrea did everything better than Orji. He threw 15/21 for 195 yards and a TD, as well as rush for 93 yards. Junior RB Jai’den Thomas is an unbelievable runner with balance. Ran for 147 yards on just 10 carries and 3 TDs. If you didn’t see it, go look up his 70 yard TD from this game. Senior WR Jaden Bradley dominated the production through the air with 6 catches for 131 yards.
In the words of Bart Scott, “their defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed.” The rebels allowed 555 yards and are fortunate to have gotten 4 INTs on defense. If they don’t figure that out fast, Like two weeks ago fast, they will find themselves having to win in shootouts. Dan Mullen era starts really freaking shaky, and Sam Houston has a duel threat QB with an offense that could be looking to be more productive than their loss against WKU.