Iowa State Cyclones Suffer Expected Drop in Complete College Football Ranking

A loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats has the Iowa State Cyclones heading in the wrong direction of rankings.

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The Iowa State Cyclones suffered their first loss of the season in Week 6 when they went on the road to face off against the Cincinnati Bearcats.

An early 17-0 lead proved too much for the Cyclones to overcome. They made the final score more respectable, losing 38-30. Opportunities to climb back into the game were presented, but could not be taken advantage of.

Star kicker Kyle Konrardy being sidelined certainly changed the in-game dynamic. Head coach Matt Campbell was clearly not confident in third-string kicker Chase Smith, who missed a 35-yard field goal attempt.

That led to a lot of attempts on fourth down when normally the kicking team would have been called upon. It resulted in a lot of points being left on the board. Some of those turnovers on downs would have certainly resulted in points being added to the board had Konrardy been available.

Special teams, defense let Iowa State down against Cincinnati

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Alas, kicking wasn’t the only issue Iowa State faced. Their defense was torched by quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who threw for 214 yards and added 64 on the ground.

The Cyclones’ defensive front was mauled all afternoon, too. They surrendered 260 yards on the ground. The Bearcats’ running back duo of Evan Pryor and Tawee Walker averaged 11.1 and 6.4 yards per carry; Sorsby was at 7.1.

It all culminated in Iowa State dropping to 5-1 overall on the season and 2-1 in the Big 12. They are barely holding onto a spot in the top 25 rankings of the AP Poll, and over at PFF, they are dropping significantly.

How far did Iowa State drop in The Athletic's college football rankings?

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Over at The Athletic (subscription required), rankings for all 136 teams were put together by Chris Vannini. Unsurprisingly, the Cyclones plummeted in those rankings as well.

They entered the week at No. 14, but have fallen to No. 24. Cincinnati, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, USF Bulls, Illinois Fighting Illini, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Vanderbilt Commodores, Virginia Cavaliers, Michigan Wolverines, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, LSU Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers and Missouri Tigers all jumped Iowa State.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Bearcats are the only Big 12 schools currently ahead of the Cyclones. However, the BYU Cougars, Arizona State Sun Devils, Utah Utes and TCU Horned Frogs are all on their tail, ranked in the top 30.

Matt Campbell’s squad will be looking to get back on track next week. They will be on the road again, this time paying a visit to Boulder to take on the Colorado Buffaloes.

A win there is imperative for Iowa State to keep its Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff hopes alive heading into a Week 8 bye.