Iowa State @ Texas preview
Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
Last Meeting ( Oct 13, 2007 ) Texas 56, Iowa State 3
Just a couple of weeks ago, the shovels were being dusted off to begin digging the hole that would bury Texas’ 2010 season.
After back-to-back losses to UCLA and Oklahoma, the Longhorns fell out of the Top 25 for the first time in 162 weeks and appeared to be spiraling toward a dismal season – at least by UT standards.
But Texas (4-2, 2-1), now ranked 22nd in the latest poll, pulled off a shocker by beating previously unbeaten Nebraska last week to save its season.
Heading into Saturday’s matchup against Iowa State (3-4, 1-2) of the Big 12 North, Texas hopes its season-long offensive inconsistency and spotty defensive play are in the past. The Longhorns are a three-touchdown favorite over Iowa State, which is 0-7 in the series against Texas, including a 56-3 drubbing in 2007 in Ames, Iowa.
The win over Nebraska offered a demonstration of the kind of play Longhorn coaches and fans have been waiting to see all season.
Texas established a running game by rushing for 209 yards against the then-No. 4 Cornhuskers, and the beleaguered offensive line did not allow a sack of quarterback Garrett Gilbert, who passed for a modest 62 yards and completed 4 of 16 pass attempts with no interceptions. The ’Horns compiled 271 total yards in the game.
The defensive unit stepped up to limit a Nebraska team that entered the game averaging 494 total yards per game to just 202 yards. It also limited the Cornhuskers’ rushing attack, which came in averaging 337 yards per game, to 125 yards on 44 carries.
Iowa State got whipped 52-0 last week against Oklahoma in a game in which Sooners quarterback Landry Jones had a near-perfect day, passing for 334 yards and completing 30 of 34 passes.
The Cyclones’ offense is led by senior quarterback Austen Arnaud and senior running back Alexander Robinson, who averages 5.1 yards per carry and 69 yards rushing per game.
Under second-year head coach Paul Rhoads, who led the school to a victory over Minnesota in the 2009 Insight Bowl, Iowa State kicked off the year with a 27-10 win over Northern Illinois, but lost back-to-back Big 12 games against Iowa and Kansas State.
The Cyclones’ biggest win so far was a 52-38 win over Texas Tech earlier this month, but that win was followed by two horrible defensive performances - a 68-27 loss to Utah and last week’s shellacking by Oklahoma.
The average score in the seven previous meetings between the schools is 38-18 in favor of Texas.