Iowa State versus Clemson Bowl Game Breakdown

Dec 26, 2021, 9:48 PM

Hey y'all, I am a teacher off for Christmas break so I had some time to watch a bunch of Iowa State football to give you guys my impression of the game on Wednesday. Shoot, I hope it doesn't get canceled.

I watched the condensed games of Iowa State versus Iowa, Baylor, Oklahoma State, West Virgina, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and TCU. This is what I picked up. I am no football guru and have just been watching this as a casual college football/Clemson fan for 40 years so take it for what it's worth.

1. Iowa State is a very gritty team. They come back when they are down and never let you pull away. Seems as though all the games were close, win or lose.

2. Purdy (QB) is pretty good at scrambling versus so-so defenses, and he is a risky, gritty player but if you rattle him he will make bad decisions and this is what I like most about our match-up with them. The DL needs to keep their hands up and block his passes. If we do this I think we can win the TO battle. This will be an opportunity for Wes to show us what he's got.

3. All the teams I watched found a lot of success on offense exploiting the middle of the field on their defense. This worries me because we are unable to do that against anyone. This will be an opportunity for Streeter to show us what he's got.

4. Kolar (TE) will be their best player without Hall (RB) being there. This dude is an absolute baller. Their other TE, Allen, is pretty good too. The key to the game may be containing Kolar.

5. Hall (RB) was a huge part of their offense, especially catching passes out of the backfield. Think Shipley as a senior with better catching ability. His being out of the game could be the difference between a close game and a potential Clemson blow-out though I hate to even mention that word talking about Iowa State.

6. One thing that really stood out was Iowa State's horrible kick-off team. Seems like you could teach a class about lane integrity using them as a bad example. Ship has an excellent opportunity to take one back here. This unit is horrible.

7. Speaking of the kick-off team, their punter has a tendency to kick punts with little hang-time and as a result, punt returns can be exploited as well. All in all, their special teams aren't good at all with the exception of their FG kicker who is pretty solid.

8. The secondary CBs and Safeties are scrappy and always seem to be in position but still get burned over and over seems like every game. This is why I am so excited to see Ngata back. They have one CB who is 5' 9" and the rest of the secondary is listed at 6' but they all play like 5' 5" with no jumping ability. DJ needs to hang the ball in the air and let our tall WRs get it.

9. The Iowa State WR, Hutchinson, will be the best WR on the field not named Swinney (I kid, I kid). The defense only needs to stop Hutchinson, Kolar, and Allen while pressuring the %^*& out of Purdy but can they do it? Wess?

10. Mobile QBs give Iowa States defense fits. Heck, if we still had Trevor then we would be favored by 14 points just on TL's scrambling ability alone. All of the mobile QBs Iowa State faced had great games rushing against them.

Well, these are the main things that I picked up. I am no Wesichick but I think that at the end of the day we pull this game out much as we did against Wake Forest and South Carolina with great defense and a good rushing attack. DJ needs to play game management, run the draw just enough and put the ball up the air against the shortish Iowa State secondary.

What do you guys think?