Too-early football preview: Baylor Bears at Iowa State Cyclones

Things didn’t go so well for Iowa State the last time they faced Baylor. Usually one of the more favorable games to get a win, the Bears handed the Cyclones one of their worst losses in football history.

There probably wasn’t a single Cyclone fan that was sober as the game meandered on in the second half. Here’s some of the fun stats in the 71-7 drubbing:

• Baylor had 714 yards of offense. Iowa State: 174.
• First downs: Bears – 32, ISU – 9 (most of that when Grant Rohach finally could lead the team down the field late in the game)
• Baylor was up 37-0 at the half.
• Baylor had 12 kickoffs.
• Iowa State went 4-of-16 on third down.
• Baylor completed more passes (29) than Iowa State attempted (27) and averaged 14.6 passing yards per completion.
• Average yards per rush: Baylor – 5.5, ISU – 1.2, and the Bears had 20 more attempts.

So yeah, all of that #$@^$ makes us head right to the fridge for a beer. I always tend to grab another one at the bar if anyone ever refers to that torture.

Oct 19, 2013; Waco, TX, USA; Baylor Bears running back Devin Chafin (28) eludes Iowa State Cyclones linebacker Jevohn Miller (55) during the second half at Floyd Casey Stadium. The Bears defeated the Cyclones 71-7. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

It’s not looking like anything will slow down in Art Briles’ School of Futuristic Offense. Yes, the team will lose a lot of key athletes that was part of the destruction. But remember, Baylor was still an offensive juggernaut and plenty of skill players go down through the season.

You could almost insert anybody at running back or wide receiver and get the same result. And it’s been that way at quarterback even after Robert Griffin III left.

Briles could be the smartest man in the Big 12. He knows exactly how to compete in this conference and they are currently in their prime.

However, there’s two things that works against Baylor and their steam-rolling offense: time and road games. Their schedule was similar to the SEC-creampuff non-conference slate those teams generally implement. They had four home games, never leaving until October 12th, and they had five total road games.

Of those road games, they went 3-2. They only dominated Kansas on the road. In the other games, they beat Kansas State by 10, got trucked 49-17 at Okie State, won 41-38 at TCU, and got beat 52-42 in their bowl game against UCF.

This team’s a different animal in their stadium, and their near one-month layoff between beating Texas and taking on UCF really impacted both sides of the ball. It’s very similar to other up-tempo Big 12 teams. There’s been enough examples that things rust after having multiple weeks off.

Too-early prediction

Both of Baylor’s faults work in Iowa State’s favor. The Bears have three straight road games after taking on a Garrett Gilbert-less SMU and Northwestern– State. They head to Buffalo (seriously, enough with the marshmallow schedule) before heading to Ames, and there will be 15 days between games.

Baylor won’t have the tough schedule that Iowa State will have when comparing their first three games, so the Cyclones will be ready. Considering that ISU gets Baylor with some experienced skill players and a new weapon, and they’ll be looking ahead to a game at Texas, I honestly like Iowa State with an unbelievable win at home and move to 2-2 on my way-too early prediction of the season.

Or they’ll go 0-4 after losing 63-10 and I’ll grab you all a round of beers at the bar after the game.

IAST 31, BAY 27