Sep 3, 2022; Waco, Texas, USA; Baylor Bears quarterback Blake Shapen (12) celebrates scoring a touchdown against the Albany Great Danes during the second quarter at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Williams, Publisher – Iowa State 27, Baylor 20
Iowa State hasn’t lost a conference home game since the year 2019. Besides that, Iowa State has just been better during the non-con than the defending Big 12 champion Bears. I’m not overconfident. These teams are incredibly even and every power rating you can get your hands on indicates that. If Iowa State can slow down Baylor’s rushing attack and not make too many dumb mistakes, the Cyclones will get off to their first 4-0 start since Y2K.
Jared Stansbury, Managing Editor – Iowa State 24, Baylor 21
I’m not sure these two teams could feel any closer than they do going into this one. Baylor has some youth in the defensive secondary, which seems to bode well for Hunter Dekkers and Xavier Hutchinson. The Cyclones will need to stop the run and avoid giving up big plays defensively. This one will be exciting until the closing moments.
Connor Ferguson, Staff Writer – Iowa State 24, Baylor 17
I got the luxury of putting my pick in here last and noticed the higher point totals everyone else went with. There’s reason to believe this will be a lower scoring game – both teams are solid on the defensive side of the football and I believe of the defensive units will challenge these offenses significantly on Saturday. The thing that keeps me from going that way is the amount of points scored in this series in the past few seasons. Wacky stuff seems to happen in all of these matchups and Saturday may not differ from that. I’ll take Iowa State in a one-score game, so long as they don’t do anything to beat themselves.
Jay Jordan, Football Analyst – Iowa State 23, Baylor 21
Baylor’s running game poses a significant threat to the ISU D. The Baylor D will always be stout. Feels like a back-and-forth affair that will be close throughout. The line is right on this one. Picking the good guys until they show they can’t hang with someone.
Jeff Woody, Football Analyst – Iowa State 30, Baylor 28
Last year, Iowa State was the better team on offense and defense. But Baylor whooped up on ISU in special teams, with the kickoff return touchdown and a big punt return to set up the eventual game-winner being the difference. So far, ISU has shown resilience once they do dumb stuff on special teams, but they seem to do that dumb stuff still too often. Something strange happens on special teams, but Iowa State is able to withstand it, Dekkers remains sharp, and the defense continues to force turnovers.
