Iowa St Cyclones 2022 College Football Preview
July 24, 2022
2021 Recap
Record – 7-6
ATS – 5-8
The Cyclones were hyped up BIGLY before the season, and rightly so given the talent on the roster. Sadly, they ended up losing four conference games including to West Virginia and Texas Tech (!). Iowa St gave Clemson a good battle in the Cheez-It Bowl but ended up falling by a count of 20-13. Thankfully, that was a 999 STAR MEGALOCKS SAFE AND EFFECTIVE BOWL LOCK winner.
Did Iowa St miss their window of opportunity or can they still be a threat to win the Big 12?
Iowa St Cyclones 2022 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Cyclones weren’t nearly as potent on the ground as you would have thought LY (161 YPG, #7 Big 12), particularly when they had the great Breece Hall at RB (1,472, 20 TD). They led the Big 12 in passing offense (!) but the bad news is that they lose their all-time leading passer in QB Brock Purdy and the majority of the THROW GAME targets including a devastating TE duo. Back-up Hunter Dekkers will lead the way in 2022 and while he appears to have all the tools note that he’s only thrown 43 career passes. There’s a major reload at WR/TE but at least they can feature a legit #1 WR in Xavier Hutchinson (987, 5 TD LY). Losing Hall is a massive blow and the leading returning rusher booked a mere 174Y in 2021. Unproven talent will have to emerge. Three starters return to the OL and Matt Campbell and friends usually do a good job with the BIG ‘UNS. Iowa St will suffer a drop in production this season but it’s impossible to know the extent of said drop until we see how all the pieces fit together.
DEFENSE
Iowa St has put one of the best defenses in the conference on the field in each of the last five seasons (#2 total defense LY, #3 scoring D) but there are yuuuge changes ahead in 2022. Only three (!) starters return on this side of the football and they lose their top-four tacklers. The only thing we know for sure is that AA DE Will McDonald is an elite talent who will be playing on Sundays (11.5 sacks LY). They appear to have good size up front but they’ll need to find another pass rushing threat to balance out what McDonald brings to the table. There are only two returning starters in the back seven so it’ll be up to their fine DC Jon Heacock to work some magic. We project ‘average’ overall performance from the stop unit.
SPECIAL TEAMS
RUH ROH. The Clones bring back PR/KR Jaylin Noel (6.1, 26.0 LY) but need to reload at punter and PK. They’ll especially miss Andrew Mevis who hit 20/23 FG attempts in 2021.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – They’ve only got one tough non-conference tilt (at Iowa), play just five true road games, and don’t have to deal with back-to-back road games. Their first Big 12 match-up will be a great measuring stick (Baylor).
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – November 5 – West Virginia
The Mountaineers won’t be anything special but this contest comes after games with Texas and Oklahoma and right before their battle with Oklahoma St.
Season Win Total
per BetOnline July 24
Over 6.5 -125
Under 6.5 -105
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
The roster isn’t OOZING with talent but they could certainly find a way to win seven games.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
The INTREPID Phil Steele provides us with quite the gem. Iowa St has lost by more than 14 points just twice (!) in the last 64 games.
HC Matt Campbell is a JUICY 9-3-1 ATS (75%) as a home underdog with the Cyclones and a very impressive 32-21-2 (60%) in Big 12 play.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
It all comes down to a simple question. Can these guys stay competitive amidst a massive retooling project? You know that they’ll play hard and be very well coached, but we’ll be very surprised if they’re in the Big 12 Championship Game discussion come November. It’s pure FOLLY to underestimate the ability of Matt Campbell to COACH EM UP so we’ll call for six or seven wins and a bowl appearance.
Want more Iowa St football ?
WEBSITE
https://cyclones.com/sports/football
FORUM
http://cyclonefanatic.com/forum/forums/football.9/
https://iowastate.forums.rivals.com/forums/isu-confidential-2-0.8/
http://iowastate.247sports.com/Board/Iowa-State-Cyclones-Message-Board-Forum-101486
NEWS
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/sports/
http://www.widerightnattylite.com/
https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/66/iowa-state-cyclones