Game To Watch: West Virginia at #9 Iowa State: December 5, 2020
West Virginia visits Iowa State for the Cyclones’ regular season finale at 3:30 on Saturday. The Mountaineers are 5 – 3 overall and 4 – 3 in the Big 12 after a convincing 24 – 6 win over TCU. Iowa State is 7 – 2 overall and 7 – 1 in Big 12 play after a come from behind 23 – 20 win over Texas. A win would clinch a spot in the Big 12 Championship game for Iowa State, while West Virginia isn’t mathematically eliminated they are a long shot to make the Big 12 title game.
Recent History
Iowa State has won the last two games between the teams by 16 and 24 points. The Mountaineers had a four game winning streak prior to that and hold a 5 – 3 edge overall head to head. The Cyclones scored 30 points or more in the 2018 and 2019 game and held West Virginia to 14 in both. Iowa State has the momentum in this match-up.
Top Players
What To Watch For…
Can the West Virginia pass defense get to Brock Purdy?
West Virginia has two of the best defensive tackles in college football in Darius and Dante Stills. As if the brothers were not disruptive enough up front, true freshman, Akheem Mesidor has already picked up 5 sacks this year. West Virginia’s defense has been the best in the Big 12 this season, giving up just 17.8 points per game. The pass defense is also the best in the conference, allowing just 161.5 yards per game and intercepting more passes than passing touchdowns allowed. The Mountaineers will attempt to pressure and confuse Brock Purdy on Saturday and force the Iowa State quarterback into mistakes. When Purdy averages more than 6 yards per attempt this year, Iowa State is undefeated, in both of their losses the star quarterback averaged less than 5 yards per attempt. Purdy is a veteran quarterback and Iowa State has done a better job of protecting him as the season has progressed. He seems to be in rhythm of late and will be tough to disrupt this weekend.
Does Breece Hall continue to roll?
Breece Hall ran the ball 20 times for 91 yards and a touchdown last weekend against Texas. That was the least productive outing of the season for the Iowa State star. Hall has scored at least one touchdown in every game this season. He went over 100 yards rushing in every game except last weekend’s contest. He has averaged over four yards per carry in every game this season. Quite simply put there has been no stopping Breece Hall in 2020, the best hope is to slow him down some. West Virginia has a talented defense that is the best in the Big 12. They have held four of their eight opponents under 100 yards rushing as a team and have not allowed any of their opponents to average over five yards per carry. This will be a classic case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.
Can West Virginia’s offense score enough?
The Mountaineers defense has carried the team in 2020 but the offense has had trouble scoring enough points to win games. They were held to 13 points in the Oklahoma State and Texas games, both games the Mountaineers lost. Iowa State’s defense is allowing just 23 points per game, which is tied for second in the Big 12. Iowa State has been particularly strong the last two weeks, shutting out Kansas State and holding Texas to 20 points. The Cyclones defense is playing it’s best ball at the right time and will make it tough on West Virginia to move the ball. West Virginia has struggled to score against Big 12 opponents not from the state of Kansas, failing to reach 28 points in five such games. They will probably need to get around 28 to win against Iowa State.
Prediction
Iowa State has been playing really well of late and will carry that momentum into this game. West Virginia’s defense is legit and will make it difficult to move the ball, but the Cyclones have enough weapons on offense to get the job done. In the end, the Mountaineers won’t get the 28 they need to win this game. Iowa State 27 West Virginia 17.
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ISU vs OSU 2019-10-26 Image taken by Daniel Hartwig is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
