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First Look: Baylor Bears vs. Iowa State Cyclones

We're changing things up a bit going forward in the Game Day informational posts. I've decided to refer to them as First Looks rather than Game Days and to include more information about the teams involved.

Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

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NR/NR/NR BAYLOR (3-3, 0-3) vs. NR/NR/NR IOWA STATE (4-3, 1-3)
Oct. 27, 2012 | 6 p.m. CT
Ames, Iowa | Jack Trice Stadium (55,000)

Listen | GametrackerGametracker | Game NotesNotes | In-Game BlogLive Blog | Gameday Central | Official Preview

Opponent: Iowa State Cyclones
Official Website: Cyclones.com
Printable Roster: Here
Depth Chart for Baylor: Here
Last Game: 31-10 Loss to Oklahoma State
2011 Matchup: Baylor won 49-26
SB Nation blog: Wide Right & Natty Lite

Full Schedule:

Date Opponent Location Time (CST) Results Media
Sat, Sep 01 Tulsa Ames, Iowa 2:30 p.m. 38 - 23 (W)
FSN
Live Stats
Sat, Sep 08 Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 2:30 p.m. 9 - 6 (W)
BTN
Sat, Sep 15 Western Illinois (Color It Cardinal) Ames, Iowa 7:00 p.m. 37 - 3 (W)
Cyclones.tv
Live Stats
Sat, Sep 29 Texas Tech * Ames, Iowa 6:00 p.m. 13 - 24 (L)
FCS
Live Stats
Sat, Oct 06 at TCU * Fort Worth, Texas 2:30 p.m. 37 - 23 (W)
FSN
Sat, Oct 13 Kansas State (Family Weekend) * Ames, Iowa 11:00 a.m. 21 - 27 (L)
FX
Live Stats
Sat, Oct 20 at Oklahoma State * Stillwater, Okla. 11:00 a.m. 10 - 31 (L)
FX
Sat, Oct 27 Baylor (Homecoming) * Ames, Iowa 6:00 p.m.
FSN
Live Audio Available - Link available at Start TimeLive Stats
Sat, Nov 03 Oklahoma * Ames, Iowa TBA
Live Audio Available - Link available at Start TimeLive Stats
Sat, Nov 10 at Texas * Austin, Texas TBA
ABC/LHN
Live Audio Available - Link available at Start Time
Sat, Nov 17 at Kansas * Lawrence, Kan. TBA
Live Audio Available - Link available at Start Time
Fri, Nov 23 West Virginia * Ames, Iowa 2:30 p.m.
ABC
Live Audio Available - Link available at Start TimeLive Stats

* Conference Games

As you can see above, Iowa State is coming off their worst game of the season after playing a tough home game the week before against now #3-ranked Kansas State. They actually gave the Wildcats their closest win of the season to date, something definitely worth lauding. Moral victories don't exist, obviously, but if they did, that would be a good one.

So far this season, Iowa State's team has arguably overachieved relative to both true talent and expected results. To do so, they've been carried by their defense, which is actually quite good, particularly considering the offenses of the Big 12 Conference. Their offense, on the other hand, is easily the second-worst in the conference. Or at least it was before it got to face our defense this week. For a closer look at their season-to-date, here are the absolute stats from ncaa.org:

Category National
Rank
Actual National
Leader
Actual Conf
Rank
Big 12
Conference Leader
Actual
Rushing Offense 86 137.00 Army 389.14 10 Oklahoma St. 254.33
Passing Offense 87 205.57 Baylor 390.67 8 Baylor 390.67
Total Offense 101 342.57 Oklahoma St. 605.33 10 Oklahoma St. 605.33
Scoring Offense 88 23.57 Louisiana Tech 56.14 9 Baylor 48.00
Rushing Defense 44 138.00 Alabama 58.71 6 TCU 92.00
Pass Efficiency Defense 28 113.39 Alabama 83.11 3 Oklahoma 94.29
Total Defense 56 382.71 Alabama 195.57 6 Texas Tech 282.00
Scoring Defense 27 19.57 Alabama 8.29 3 Oklahoma 15.33
Net Punting 10 41.51 Florida 44.24 3 Oklahoma St. 43.53
Punt Returns 8 16.14 Kansas St. 26.25 4 Kansas St. 26.25
Kickoff Returns 115 16.18 Rutgers 35.17 10 Oklahoma 31.15
Turnover Margin T-68 -.14 Mississippi St. 2.43 7 Kansas St. 1.71
Pass Defense 78 244.71 Arizona St. 130.43 7 Oklahoma 164.33
Passing Efficiency 96 118.25 Alabama 183.30 9 Kansas St. 174.59
Sacks T-53 2.00 Tulsa 4.38 5 TCU 2.71
Tackles For Loss 54 5.86 Arizona St. 9.43 6 Texas 7.86
Sacks Allowed 36 1.43 Air Force .00 4 Oklahoma St. .50

If you recall the game last season that I linked above, Iowa State made a purposeful decision to deny us the deep pass with two deep safeties, so we responded by rushing for a school record 391 yards on a school-record 67 carries. Based on what they've done this season, I would expect something similar from Paul Rhoads' team, particularly since we don't look as strong this season in the running game. He could gamble on our ability to replicate last year's success on the ground in order to deny Nick Florence the opportunity to light them up through the air. We'll talk more about that going forward.

Offensively, I don't think at this point that we know who will quarterback the Cyclones this week or if it will really matter given the state of our defense. Iowa State has been about as good a running team as a passing one this season (and that's not very good, either), so if our defense was going to step up and have a good conference game, this might be their chance. Of course, that's probably my silly optimistic side talking.

All the Baylor links you might need are above. For more information on Iowa State, check out...

SBNation's Iowa State Preview
Football Study Hall's Statistical Review
Football Outsiders' FEI and S&P+ rankings and the associated submenus.
Once again, their fantastic SB Nation blog WR&NL.