Iowa State Cyclones at Baylor Bears NCAAF
The #14 Iowa State Cyclones get their Big 12 Conference season underway as just -7 point underdogs at the Baylor Bears. ISU has been shaky out of the gate but looked good in their 48-3 win at UNLV last week. Baylor has started 2021 with a 3-0 record, though, putting up 111 total points the last two weeks. Let’s take a closer look to Cyclones at Bears betting preview.
Is Iowa State Overrated?
Everything seemed to be lined up for Iowa State coming into the 2021 campaign. The Cyclones were 8-3 last year and returned a 1,400+ yard, 19 TD runner in Breece Hall, and a 4-year starter in QB Brock Purdy. Iowa State started off the season ranked #7 in the country.
Not that the 2-1 Cyclones have begun 2021 that bad, but they only beat Northern Iowa 16-10 in the season opener as -28.5 favorites and lost the rivalry game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at home 27-17. Iowa State seems to be on the right track after a 48-3 win at UNLV, even covering the -32 point spread, but that’s a terrible Rebels team.
Iowa State did beat Baylor 38-31 last season, but that was in Ames and with ISU as -14 point favorites. The Bears were also up 24-10 in the 3rd quarter in that game against the then #17 ranked Cyclones, but ultimately a 133 yard and 2 TD game from Hall was too much for Baylor to overcome.
Outright Win for the Bears?
Baylor played Iowa State close last year, losing by just a TD but also with Charlie Brewer at the helm of the offense. The 4-year starter Brewer had 295 yards and 3 TD vs. ISU last season but has taken his talents to Salt Lake City in transferring to Utah.
The experienced Brewer is gone, but the Baylor offense really hasn’t missed a beat behind Gerry Bohanon. The Jr. Bohanon has shown a mastery of Jeff Grimes’ offense throwing for 5 TD and 0 INT over the past two weeks. It’s probably a bit early to start the Heisman talk for Bohanon, though, considering Baylor was a -44.5 favorite over Texas Southern and -17 against Kansas the last two games.
One incredibly positive aspect of the Baylor offense so far this season is that three running backs have already amassed 150+ yards rushing. That includes Trestan Ebnar and Abram Smith, both already having 300+ yards, with Smith having 5 rushing TDs in three games. Past competition aside, that is the type of balance you need to beat the #14 team in the country.
Iowa State at Baylor Pick
Baylor was a 2 TD underdog in their trip to Ames last season and ended up being up 2 TD at one point in the 2nd half. The Cyclones had enough muster to come back and win 38-31 but were still in a closer game than they expected. Iowa State stomped on a very bad UNLV team last week, but 42,000+ fans at McLane Stadium may have a little different offering for the Cyclones this weekend. Baylor has a very good chance at winning this outright, let alone covering the TD spread.
Baylor +7
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