No Power Conference has played as many games as the Big 12, and the conference is in full action as Week 1 begins on Saturday. Here are this week’s Big 12 Thoughts.
1. For the fifth time in five years and for a third consecutive season, Iowa State got the best of Kansas State; the Cyclone defeated the Wildcats 24-21 on Saturday afternoon in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland. For the better part of three quarters, it was a pretty soggy event (pun intended), but Iowa State’s offense started to click late in the third quarter. Numerically, Rocco Becht didn’t play a better game than Kansas State QB Avery Johnson, but down-to-down, Becht outpaced Johnson’s talents. Becht perfectly placed two touchdowns to second-year receivers Dominic Overby and Brett Eskildsen. Becht also had a key seven-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to give Iowa State a 24-14 advantage. With about two minutes remaining, Becht completed a pass to running back Carson Hansen on a fourth-and-three conversion that ultimately iced the game. Iowa State improves to 1-0 and has great momentum entering three nonconference games vs. FCS South Dakota, rival Iowa and a road game at Arkansas State.
2. Meanwhile, K-State’s defense crumbled in the second half. Iowa State’s duo of Carson Hansen and Abu Sama were stuck in customs in the first half, but in the third and fourth quarter, they combined for more than 100 yards. Kansas State’s defensive line was thin because of injuries entering the game, but the Cyclone offensive line started to dominate the trenches after the halftime break. One loss, obviously, doesn’t knock Kansas State – a preseason favorite to many – out of the Big 12 race, but it’s certainly an uphill climb. The Wildcats play North Dakota this week before hosting Army in early September.