2013 Game XI: Iowa State vs Kansas Preview

2013 Game XI: Iowa State (1-9, 0-7) vs Kansas Preview (3-7, 1-6)

Time: 7:00 PM CST

Location: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, IA

Line: ISU -5

Television: Fox Sports 1

Radio: Cyclone Radio Network

Game Notes/Release

Kansas SBN Blog: Rock Chalk Talk

It's hard to care anymore, but at least show up to Jack Trice on Saturday and send off these seniors with your cheers:

90	Mitch Amundson	PK	6-0	202	Sr.	Sioux City, Iowa (East)
15	Edwin Arceo	PK	5-9	196	Sr.	Muscatine, Iowa (Iowa Central CC) (Muscatine)
19	Ben Fisher	WR	6-3	202	Sr.	Van Meter, Iowa (Van Meter)
52	Jeremiah George	LB	5-11	219	Sr.	Clearwater, Fla. (Clearwater)
21	Shontrelle Johnson	RB	5-9	186	Sr.	DeLand, Fla. (DeLand)
16	Gage Shaeffer	DB	5-11	199	Sr.	Eden Prairie, Minn. (Eden Prarie)
7	Cliff Stokes	DB	6-1	175	Sr.	Tallahassee, Fla. (Trinity Valley CC) (Rickards)
13	Kirby Van Der Kamp	P	6-4	211	Sr.	West Des Moines, Iowa (Valley)
12	Wes Boyer	DB	6-0	202	RSr.	Cedar Falls, Iowa (Cedar Falls)
26	Deon Broomfield	DB	6-0	206	RSr.	Palm Bay, Fla. (Bayside)
84	Ernst Brun, Jr.	TE	6-3	251	RSr.	Stone Mountain, Ga. (Mt. Sac CC) (Shiloh)
80	Justin Coleman	WR	5-11	188	RSr.	Beatrice, Neb. (Nebraska-Omaha) (Beatrice)
18	Albert Gary	WR	5-10	203	RSr.	Ocala, Fla. (Butler CC) (North Marion)
69	Kyle Lichtenberg	OL	6-6	296	RSr.	Bettendorf, Iowa (Bettendorf)
50	Willie Scott	DE	6-2	224	RSr.	Orlando, Fla. (Jones)
64	Ethan Tuftee	OL	6-4	314	RSr.	Davenport, Iowa (Assumption)
5	Jacques Washington	DB	6-1	220	RSr.	Owasso, Okla. (Owasso)
2	Jansen Watson	DB	5-9	174	RSr.	Kissimmee, Fla. (Osceola)
8	James White	RB	5-8	192	RSr.	Dallas, Texas (Skyline)
95	Walter Woods III	DL	6-0	318	RSr.	Palmdale, Calif. (Palmdale)
32	Jeff Woody	RB	6-1	242	RSr.	Pleasant Hill, Iowa (Southeast Polk)

When We Last Left Off...

Iowa State took a strong first half and flushed it down the toilet in a 48-10 loss to Oklahoma.

Kansas somehow beat West Virginia 31-19 to snap their 27-game Big XII losing streak and gain their first conference win in over three years.

The Series

Kansas holds an all-time edge in the series 48-37-6 but the last three have went in Iowa State's favor.

Last Five Games

2012: Iowa State 51, Kansas 23

2011: Iowa State 13, Kansas 10

2010: Iowa State 28, Kansas 16

2009: Kansas 41, Iowa State 36 - This was KU's last win against a Big XII opponent still in the conference

2008: Kansas 35, Iowa State 33

Iowa State Offense Courtney Messingham Pink Slip Watch

10 days.

Kansas Defense

Admittedly I have watched very little film on Kansas as of late, but if their defense is still doing the same things they were earlier this year then they'll try to be aggressive in the front seven but completely shit the bed in the back four. They're near the bottom in every major defensive statistical category in the Big XII and allowing over 30 points per game.

The Stats

When Kirk Haaland sent these over to me the other day he titled the e-mail "Stat Tears", and he couldn't be more correct. Neither team does anything well, except possibly hold onto the ball in Iowa State's case. It's always a scary proposition when one team playing above their average will equal the other teams' average. Meaning something has to give in what will be a very sloppy and fundamentally terrible game.

The Match Up

Courtney Messingham worked Kansas' defense hard last year when Sam Richardson came in. A solid mix of running and moving the pocket in the passing game kept Kansas off balance all night. In all four of Richardson's scoring tosses the safeties were the liability and I expect the same thing on Saturday.

Except Grant Rohach has a questionable arm and once again two quarters of play will be worthless in the passing game with a strong northwest wind expected. Running the ball will be key here and there is hope that last week's first half performance against Oklahoma might be a sign of things to come as the line gets healthy and gains more experience.

Iowa State Defense

It's the Jeremiah George and Jacques Washington show. The fact that Washington might end up on an All Big XII team list is gratifying and horrifying all at the same time. Washington deserves the recognition given how much he's had to hold together, but this defense would be so much better if he wasn't always covering up other's mistakes and could play his game.

Kansas Offense

Prone to fast starts the Kansas offense has scored 77 of their 174 total points in the first half. Weis' teams get out of the gate fast exploiting the other teams' weaknesses. This happened in Lawrence last year when Weis rolled out a triple option look that Wally Burnham didn't have on the call sheet to defend.

That's what scares me the most about this game. Weis has shown himself to be great at game planning and early execution and this defense has numerous weak spots to exploit.

The Stats

More stat tears. The only saving grace here is Iowa State's defense is markedly better than Kansas' offense in some of these categories and if one or the other plays to their average it should favor Iowa State.

The Match Up

As long as Kansas doesn't get out of the gates quickly with a healthy dose of James Sims and the possible heavy usage of Montell Cozart then the Cyclones should be ok.

If I was a betting man though I would expect to see Weis roll out the same triple option style look he had last year and use Cozart and Sims to abuse the defense Jevohn Miller.

Special Teams

Kansas leads the nation in punting yards at 330.8 yards per game. Iowa State is second at 320.1.

WRNL Beer Pick of the Week

It's time for the 5th Annual Deer N Beer tailgate with our group. We'll have some tasty deer burgers to go along with a litany of "shitty" beers including Hamm's, PBR, Schlitz, Stagg, and many many others. We're in G7 for the final time this year so stop by and give our roulette wheel a spin to pick your beer!

Final Analysis

Iowa State has more talent than Kansas. People can argue with me until they're blue in the face and I won't back off that. Iowa State should win this game and up until the second half of last week I was fully convinced they would. The team had shown no quit through 9.5 games and then Oklahoma took the field in the 3rd quarter.

The offense never adjusted. The defense all but gave up in the run game, and the wheels fell off even worse than they had against Baylor and Oklahoma State.

Luckily for us this is a Kansas team that is not very good on the road, has questionable stretches of play more than they have good stretches, and it's Senior Night in Jack Trice.

These guys deserve to go out with a win, and I think the right mix is there for it to happen, but it won't be pretty.

Final Score

Iowa State 17

Kansas 9

PS - Stay warm on Saturday folks. You can't wear what you don't have so bring extra layers even if you won't use them.

PPS - Jacques is one of my favorite Cyclones of all-time. I'm going to miss the shit out of him.