If You Want to Win
Bill Bedenbaugh says Iowa State is really good on Defense and that if you want to win "You really have to beat these guys" The Cyclones play a unique Defense that a lot of teams try but the difference is Matt Campbell knows it and runs it better than any one. The essence of their scheme is dropping 8 players back and then moving those players around as the play develops. that keeps the offense of the other team continually guessing as to where pressure is coming from and where the passing lanes are. Coach Bedenbaugh says "Its just a matter of identifying where people are and where their going to be" Alot of that identifying will fall on the shoulders of Creed Humphrey the Sooner's All Big 12 center. He makes the calls on the offensive line to set up the blocking schemes as to where the pressure will be coming from depending on what fronts the Cyclones are in. Iowa State is blitzing a little more this year Bedenbaugh says and it will be incumbent on the Sooner's offensive line to pick up those blitzes and keep Jalen Hurts clean. Iowa State was particularly good at this defense when they upset OU on Owen Field in 2017, they seemed to confuse Baker Mayfield when they dropped 8 and disguised their coverage's leading to less than expected passing success for OU. Expect the Cyclones to come with a similar type scheme this Sat, One person that hopes they do is Jalen Hurts, if he drops back and sees 8 back in the box that will leave plenty of running room for him, at that point he tucks the ball, gets upfield for 6-8-10 yds a pop, maybe more. If he can make them pay for dropping 8, Hurts will have a huge day and you already know Jalen Hurts wants to beat Iowa State "PRETTY DAMN BAD"
