Oct 12, 2024; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach celebrates after a touchdown during the second quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images
The head coaches have completed their weekly pregame press conferences ahead of Saturday’s game between No. 9 Iowa state and UCF set for 6:30 p.m. (Fox Sports 1) at Jack Trice Stadium.
Here are the big takeaways.
UCF’s quarterback situation
After starting the season with Arkansas transfer K.J. Jefferson, the Knights made a change at the quarterback spot in their game Saturday against Cincinnati.
Freshman E.J. Colson started Saturday’s game – a 19-13 home loss to Cincinnati – and led the first two drives of the day.
That’s when sophomore Jacurri Brown, a transfer from Miami, entered the game and never got taken out, finishing 13-20 for 207 yards with a touchdown and 84 rushing yards on 16 carries.
UCF coach Gus Malzahn said everything except Brown having the reigns on Saturday during his presser.
“We’re still working through it, but he will be the first to take snaps with the first team (Tuesday),” Malzahn said. “We’ll see how that goes moving forward, but I was real pleased with the way he responded. The moment wasn’t too big for him, for the first time being out in real action. Those other two times were really just kind of mop up. I thought he did some really good things. He gave a spark to our offense.”
If it is indeed Brown on Saturday, it will be the fifth-straight, dual threat quarterback that the Cyclone defense has faced.
“EJ, I thought did some good things for his first rodeo, too, but Brown will be the first to take snaps (Tuesday) in practice,” Malzahn said.
When asked if Jefferson was still being considered for the spot, Malzahn said, “We’ll see.”
Tablets helping out
Iowa State coaches on both sides of the ball have spoke this season about utilizing tablets on the sidelines during games and how big of a help its been to making in-game adjustments.
It’s part of a new rule implemented by the NCAA that allows coaching staffs to use the devices on the sidelines during games.
Defensive coordinator Jon Heacock spoke about what it’s done for the team on Tuesday.
“You can fix stuff, and I think the (tablets) help you a ton,” Heacock said. “What’s happening now with (tablets) on the field – I think you can make some good adjustments. I think the biggest thing is you don’t find when something happens – you can fix a problem. Or you don’t run yourself out of a defensive call, perhaps. ‘Man, it didn’t work.’ Well, why didn’t it work? Was it bad schematically, or were we a gap away or whatever. So, you can go back and run that defense, and I know in the past, sometimes, we might run something we put in during the week and call it once when it didn’t work. Then, it’s out. We can’t do that (anymore).”
Hindsight is 20-20, but maybe we should have made a bigger deal out of the NCAA approving the use of tablets when Heacock is involved as a coach.
It’s no wonder his in-game adjustments look as good as ever.
“I think you can make adjustments – a lot more are being made probably now than used to be made,” Heacock said. “I think the thing that you probably end up doing, speaking for myself, is probably throwing some of the stuff out, and finding the things that really work for your guys and are finding success with. And – who’s in the game, that’s part of it, too.”
Starting games off slowly
Iowa State has had its fair share of challenges starting games, and just getting out to a hot start offensively in general.
It’s a problem coach Matt Campbell knows the team needs to fix, but he still feels confident about his squad in the ensuing 45 or 50 minutes.
“I do think our kids understand the value and I think that’s something I’d tell you – we have to be better, because we won’t continue to win football games if we can’t put together 60 full minutes of good football,” Campbell said. “But, I would also say that you have to have a mindset that no matter how you plan to get off to a great start or not get out to a great start, the reality of it is, things are going to happen. You have to have great leadership in the moments and great character to (say) the game isn’t over until it’s over.
“I’ve seen other teams and have been a part of other teams where you had success, and you couldn’t handle that either early in games,” Campbell said. “I think the one great thing this team has had all season is a great mindset on how to play: one moment at a time, one play at a time, one situation at a time, and really have the ability to zero-focus on that. Our efficiency can be better on some of those things, but I think our mindset has been right.”
That mindset may have showed itself in each of Iowa State’s four wins over power-conference opponents – having the ability to make plays no matter the scoreboard and remain unaffected by momentum is a big part of what has led to the 6-0 start.
Pay attention to Iowa State’s play calls on its first drive on offense and see if there are any adjustments there this week.
Not a ton of clarity on the injury front
Campbell didn’t give a ton of clarity on injuries to certain players this week. Here’s what he had to say:
“I think all of those guys are really close,” Campbell said. “Where you are at in the season right now – you’ve just got some guys that are banged up. Hopefully, as we continue on, we can get some of those guys back. I do think Cael (Brezina) was really close to playing last Saturday – I would expect him to be a lot closer to playing this coming Saturday. Dylan (Barrett) is in the same boat – not a season-ending injury or anything like that. We’ll see how he progresses this week as we kind of prepare and just continue to track our football team.”
