Arizona State Sun Devils vs. Iowa State Cyclones Prediction and Picks – Saturday, November 1
Use Code SSWC The Arizona State Sun Devils will visit the Iowa State Cyclones this Saturday, and we'll preview the lines and odds in our Arizona State vs. Iowa State prediction. Arizona State is coming off a loss to Houston in which they sorely missed star receiver Jordyn Tyson, while Iowa State has now lost three straight games after a 5-0 start. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM ET on Saturday, November 1.
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How will Sun Devils navigate injuries to Leavitt and Tyson?
It's been an up-and-down year for the Arizona State Sun Devils, who dropped out of the AP Top 25 after losing 24-16 to Houston last week. The Sun Devils are 5-3 overall this season and 3-2 in conference play–they missed starting quarterback Sam Leavitt in their 42-10 loss to Utah, and he left twice during the loss to Houston when the team was already missing Jordyn Tyson. Leavitt's already been ruled out for the upcoming game against Iowa State, leaving Jeff Sims as the expected starter.
Against Utah, Sims completed 18 of 38 passes for 124 yards, posting a 47.4 completion percentage and 3.3 yards per attempt. He took five sacks, but still came out with 66 rushing yards on 21 carries. His numbers in limited action against Houston looked better–6 of 11 for 58 yards, a 54.5 completion percentage, 5.3 yards per attempt, a 27-yard touchdown pass, and only one sack. It's even more striking that the numbers looked better when the team was missing Jordyn Tyson, who leads the Sun Devils by an overwhelming margin in every receiving stat despite missing a game. He's logged 57 of the team's 169 receptions, 628 of their 1,810 yards, and–most strikingly–eight of their 11 touchdowns.
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Tyson is listed as doubtful on the Big 12 availability report ahead of the Sun Devils' Week 10 game. The team will likely lean harder on running back Raleek Brown, tight end Chamon Metayer, and receiver Malik McClain–who logged 159 yards on seven catches against Houston, more than doubling his season totals in both stats.
Overall, the Sun Devils allow 334.6 yards per game and just 120 yards rushing (36th). On offense, they're averaging 402 ayrds per game (59th) and 24.8 points per game (91st).
Iowa State drops three games after 5-0 start
It wasn't that long ago that the Iowa State Cyclones beat the Arizona Wildcats 39-14 to open the season 5-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play. They've lost three games since, against Cincinnati (38-30), Colorado (24-17), and BYU (41-27), and now find themselves at ninth in the 16-team Big 12 standings. Those losses aren't terrible at first glance–two were decided by one score, and BYU (No. 10) and Cincinnati (No. 17) are both ranked heading into Week 10.
On a second glance, the Cyclones' loss to the BYU Cougars was–to put it mildly–disappointing. Iowa State scored on all three of their possessions to open the game, gaining 192 yards and putting itself up 17-7 to end the first quarter. They didn't maintain that pace in either yards or points, but still finished the game with 495 yards to the Cougars' 410 and 24 first downs to the Cougars' 17. This turned into a 41-27 loss for the Cyclones because of turnovers, which came in a bunch after the Cougars scored a touchdown to go up 34-27 in the fourth quarter. Rocco Becht threw an interception that BYU returned for a touchdown on the ensuing drive, and the Cyclones ended the drive that followed with a turnover on downs. Their last possession in the fourth quarter featured an eight-yard touchdown run called back for offensive holding, followed by a 14-yard sack that knocked the Cyclones all the way out of the red zone, before ending in another interception.
Becht completed 24 of 36 passes in this game for 311 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions–doubling his season total. He was sacked four times by the BYU defense, ending the game with a net of -31 rushing yards on eight carries. The team still finished the game with 5.4 yards per carry thanks to the performance of junior back Carson Hansen, who put up 152 yards and two touchdowns on only 16 carries.
Between his passing and rushing contributions, Becht combined to score two or more touchdowns in five of the Cyclones' first six games. He's only been part of one touchdown over the team's last two games, during which he's thrown four interceptions.
They have a nice balance on offense, averaging 251 yards per game in the air and 166.4 rushing yards. On defense, they are allowing 136.8 yards per game on the ground and 217 yards per game in the air.
Arizona State vs. Iowa State Pick
Spread Pick for Arizona State vs. Iowa State
- Iowa State -7.5 (-115) (4 Units)
Tyson may suit up for the Sun Devils here, but the doubtful designation on the injury report means what it says. Iowa State will be hosting a team that's down their starting quarterback and will more than likely be without the focal point of their offense. They only need to win by eight or more to cover, and they'll be itching for a bounce-back game after losing three straight and giving up a competitive BYU game on turnovers. The Cyclones' offense isn't overly explosive, but the Sun Devils scored 10 points against Utah without Leavitt and 16 points against Houston without Tyson. The bar to clear shouldn't be high.
Over/Under Pick for Arizona State vs. Iowa State
- Under 49.5 (-110) (4 Units)
The Sun Devils found a way to recreate raw yardage without Tyson last week, but the same can't be said for Tyson's scoring output. That doesn't figure to get better this week with Leavitt fully out of the lineup, and the Team Total Under was already 6-2 in their games this season. Iowa State shouldn't need to run up the score to win here, and they've only hit the 30-point mark against two of their seven FBS opponents this season. I'm not expecting this game to turn into a track meet.
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