Oct 26, 2024; Manhattan, Kansas, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson (2) runs by Kansas Jayhawks defensive end Jereme Robinson (90) on his way to a touchdown in the fourth quarter at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images
Depending on the age of your children, maybe don’t tell them about the ‘no longer,’ top 10 Cyclones that fell to No. 11 over the bye week.
They don’t need to know that being a bigger brand team gets more of a cushion from the elder AP Poll writers tasked with the duty of assigning the numbers that appear next to a team’s name on TV. Again, age dependent.
The rankings will sort themselves out, though. All these guys can do is keep winning — and welcome to Monday Musings.
Buckle up
Beginning on Saturday, Iowa State’s top four programs (football, men’s and women’s basketball, and wrestling) are all ranked in the top 10 — and will play 23 events over 29 days, including the Maui Invitational. The women will face the defending national champion, South Carolina, on Thanksgiving in Florida, the Cy-Hawk dual wrestling meet takes place in three and a half weeks, and football’s biggest in-conference rival, Kansas State, comes to town just outside that 29-day window for the Nov. 30 regular-season finale.
So this is a good kind of busy — and buckle up, as it all starts with the Iowa State women’s basketball exhibition against Central College of Pella on Wednesday.
The start times are getting on everyone’s nerves
And I get more confused every week.
This is your reminder that daylight savings time ends over the weekend, and while I hate basically every aspect of the one hour ahead, one hour back annual event, it’s the week most apt to have a banger in the late-night window.
This week? Zero FBS games are kicking off after 7:00 p.m. CT.
Last week, had it not been for Nebraska giving Ohio State a scare, there were no marquee games in the early TV window.
Sure, you had big brands in Ole Miss and Oklahoma, but the Sooners might be the worst team in the SEC.
Then you have the undefeated service academy playing Notre Dame on a neutral field lose by 37 – and play that at Navy. I got to visit that stadium a year ago and it’s a beauty. But still, boring.
I’m not an expert on how these are assigned by any means, but in a world where everyone is chasing numbers, they are making less sense by the week.
What the bye week will do for Iowa State
It’s going to remain to be seen until the Cyclones hit the field on Saturday.
We only know what we will be told during press conferences about the injuries hampering the Iowa State linebacker room.
And what’s to make of Ben Brahmer and Carson Hansen on the offensive side of the ball? That’s without mentioning others who have gotten banged up over the year.
The hope is the bye week came at the right time and these guys will ultimately be on the field the rest of the way. We’ll know more Tuesday.
Around the Big 12
Kansas State extended its win streak over Kansas in the waning minutes
The Wildcats pulled out another game in this series – their 16th straight win in the rivalry. Time is running out for America to feel bad for them, too, college basketball’s around the corner.
For Kansas State, Avery Johnson is proving to be a formidable player – especially when not turning the ball over. He went 19/34 with 253 yards and two touchdowns to get out of there with a win.
The final third of the season sets up nicely for KSU. They’ll face Houston with a bye week afterwards going into three games against Arizona State, Cincinnati and Iowa State to close out the year. Those Arizona State and Cincy games are in Manhattan, too.
The closer we get, it seems that Farmegeddon ’24 will have all of the stakes tied to it.
Meanwhile, the Jayhawks have had the lead in the fourth quarter of every game they’ve played this season, with the exception of its loss to TCU, which KU led with 2:07 remaining in the third quarter.
Yet, they’re 2-6.
Was I the only one perplexed by the play calls on KU’s final drive? The camera angle was pretty tough on seeing where receivers ran – if they were more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, they were off-screen – but it felt like they called four “all go’s” off the new video game and told quarterback Jalon Daniels to run for his life.
A Kansas win could have helped out the Cyclones, but it is what it is.
BYU remained undefeated and had no trouble with UCF
The week after UCF gave Iowa State a scare, BYU ran away – don’t read into that either. It wasn’t too long ago that the Cougars did everything they could to give Baylor a shot to upend their season in Waco.
However, that’s still an impressive win from BYU and the Cougars look almost every part of a top 10 team.
The Cougars are on the higher end of the country in turnovers lost this year, with two fumbles being lost against UCF. Yet, they’re still at No. 17 in the country in turnover margin – they’ve forced opponents into 18 takeaways in eight games this year.
For reference, Iowa State is at No. 7 in the country, giving up six all on interceptions and forcing 15.
It would be fascinating to see these two in Dallas, but we’re a ways away – the Holy War is next week after bye weeks for both teams.
Texas Tech dropped another one, but Will Hammond made his debut
The Red Raiders saw true freshman Will Hammond enter the game in relief of an injured Behren Morton at the quarterback spot.
Will Hammond. STUD
— Barstool Texas Tech 🌵 (@barstoolttu) October 26, 2024
The four-star prospect held offers to Tennessee, Texas A&M, Penn State, Oregon, Oklahoma State, UTSA, Houston, and Auburn before signing with Texas Tech last December.
I really thought Tech was going to run away with this game, especially after this touchdown run from Hammond.
Hutto’s own Will Hammond runs the TD in for Texas Tech.
True freshman is in for an injured Behren Morton.
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/mxgBS4sKZn
— Noah Gross (@noah_gross27) October 26, 2024
But Tech’s pass defense was on full display – Joey McGuire’s squad ranks dead last in the country allowing 308.3 yards per game through the air.
Running back Tahj Brooks finished with over 100 yards again, as he’s done in every game this year.
Expect a run-heavy attack from Texas Tech this Saturday, and hope the Cyclones can exploit the Red Raiders’ defense through the air.
In other games…
Colorado took down Cincinnati and both teams came away looking impressive to this point with bye weeks to get some rest.
Neal Brown and West Virginia got back to .500 and have a road trip against the Bearcats on the horizon.
Oklahoma State is winless in Big 12 play and doesn’t face a team with a losing record of the rest of the season barring what happens to Texas Tech this month.
Try telling someone that at the beginning of the season – it would be a lot less believable than Utah not making it to the conference title.
Good win, Houston.
…
Anyways, hope y’all took a breath over the bye weekend.
It’s about to get even more entertaining around these parts.
