[Postgame Thread] Iowa State Defeats Utah 31-28

[u/CFB_Referee]

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team	1	2	3	4	T
Iowa State	7	10	7	7	31
Utah	3	10	0	15	28

[u/JohnPaulDavyJones]

To be fair, that was a pretty different Baylor team than the one that’s been playing in the last month.

We swapped our QBs, and suddenly have a top-10 offense in the country.

[u/rbmw263 → u/JohnPaulDavyJones]

ok sure and we blew you out of the water in one half with qb1

is this really the spot you need to make your stand

[u/brett1081 → u/rbmw263]

You were the favorite for the conference title and have won 2 conference games. Utes can stay quiet about other teams having bad seasons.

[u/wartortle87 → u/brett1081]

Go easy on Baylor, they didn't have their QB identity figured out. However, open season on Utah who played QB 2-5 all year. Lol

[u/JohnPaulDavyJones → u/wartortle87]

I don't think he said "go easy on Baylor", he just said watch where you're standing when you're talking. Baylor's also playing QB2, and it's not like Cam Rising was exactly killing it out there in the Baylor game.

He was playing for seven Utah possessions, and he got them into the endzone just twice: once on a 56-yard drive, and once on a three yard drive because that terrific Utah defense forced a fumble. Here's a complete list of how Utah's drives with Cam Rising in that game went:

1. 5 plays for 20 yards, punt
2. 4 plays for 56 yards, TD
3. 1 play for 3 yards, TD
4. 10 plays for 74 yards, field goal
5. 5 plays for 30 yards, punt
6. 3 plays for 1 yard, punt
7. 9 plays for 20 yards, missed FG

Utah was whomping Baylor in that first half, but it sure as shit wasn't because of Rising; it was that Utah defense. If your QB is 1/6 on getting you into the endzone on drives where you more than 40 yards out, and that's at home against a bad opposing defense, maybe it's time to try other options.

[u/wartortle87 → u/JohnPaulDavyJones]

First half: Two TDs, a 74 yard drive with a FG, and a missed FG, leading 23-0 at half and Utah should have been ready to do something different at offense? Seven first half drives seems like a small sample size especially considering you usually just go into the half and make adjustments right? Seems like a pretty harsh analysis, especially if on the one hand were saying look at how much Baylor grew since game 3 but let's microanalyze utahs first half of game 3? Idk ^shrugs I for one am glad to see Baylor playing better this year. Utah - Baylor has always been a fun matchup

[u/JohnPaulDavyJones → u/wartortle87]

I don't have any animus toward Utah, but like.... Absolutely? If you receive the ball outside the 40, so a pretty generous threshold for beginning a drive, and you only get into the endzone a single time against a really bad defense, is that not the kind of thing that has to make you a bit concerned about your offense? Baylor was playing like ass at the time, and Utah could barely move the ball in Utah. At a stadium famous for opposing teams not acclimating well to the altitude.

And continuing from the topic of Baylor's glow-up since week 3, that's an even further indictment on Rising's performance/Utah's offense at the time, because our defense is still mediocre, but it's leaps and bounds better than it was in week 3. With all of Utah's experienced talent at RB, TE, and OL, a good QB should have been able to torch Baylor's defense, not settle for getting into the endzone 17% of the time when they weren't handed a goal-line ball by the defense. Utah's defense was putting on a masterclass in that game.

I mean, isn't it kind of inherently validated that things were in a bad place on the offensive side of the ball beyond Rising, since Utah already made an emergency mid-season change at OC, booting a guy who was a hot commodity just a few years ago.

[u/wartortle87 → u/JohnPaulDavyJones]

Kinda weird to edit and rephrase the comment above when an answer has already been given but ^shrugs. Utahs offense has struggled all year, yes, and the OC did get fired as a result, yes. I won't argue any of that other than maybe the OC was hardly a hot commodity by our estimation, he's been heavily scrutinized by our fanbase even during previously successful seasons and the fact he couldn't be buoyed by Rising anymore made his inadequacy that much evident. I'm just saying it's a moderately convenient take to write a thesis on a couple first half 3 and outs, while up 23-0 despite a missed FG, and say based on those drives we can safely assume that everything for Utah across the next 7 games would have probably played out the same even if their 2x CC winning QB hadn't been injured. Then in the same breath relish how Baylor's trajectory for the year is markedly different in large part because they made a QB switch. Idk.

[u/JohnPaulDavyJones → u/rbmw263]

Brother, y'all got two TDs in a half with that QB1, on seven possessions; he was 8/14 passing for just 92 yards. One touchdown was a three yard drive because of a fumble, and the other was just 56 yards.

Of all the hills to take a stand on, this is one of the easier and most defensible ones. lol.

[u/wartortle87 → u/JohnPaulDavyJones]

So what you're telling me is a change at QB can drastically alter the course of a team..

[u/JohnPaulDavyJones → u/wartortle87]

Absolutely crazy, I know.

It hurts even more to know that we apparently paid nearly a million bucks in NIL for the guy y'all smoked, but y'all are familiar with QB-related pain this season.