CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
IOWA STATE CYCLONES vs ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS
IOWA STATE CYCLONES NOTES
THE LEAD
No. 16 Iowa State makes its second appearance in the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship game Saturday when it faces No. 12 Arizona State for the first time. The Cyclones, winners of three straight, and Sun Devils are set to kick off at AT&T Stadium at 11 a.m. on ABC.
KEY STORYLINES
• Iowa State has reached 10 wins for the first time in the program’s 133-year history when it defeated Kansas State at home last weekend … the Cyclones are looking to win their first conference championship since 1912, one of two conference titles in school history (the other being 1911). • The Cyclones are bowl eligible for the seventh time in nine seasons under Matt Campbell. • Campbell became ISU’s winningest football coach earlier this season, surpassing Dan McCarney’s previous mark … he is in his ninth season leading the program, the third-longest tenured coach in ISU history and tied for the third-longest active tenure in the Big 12 Conference … in school history, only McCarney (1995-2006) and Clay Stapleton (1958-67) enjoyed longer tenures … Campbell owns 50.6 percent of ISU’s all-time Big 12 wins (45-of-89). • Rocco Becht has thrown a TD pass in 16-straight games … he’s just the fifth QB in school history to pass for 6,000 career yards … Becht has led the Cyclones to 17 wins the last two seasons, the best two-year stretch in school history. • Becht has one of the best wide receiving duos in college football at his disposal in Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel … they are the first duo in school history and the only pair nationally with 1,000 yards each this season … in eight of 12 games they have combined for at least 10 catches, 175 yards and a score, the most nationally by a set of teammates. • First-year offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser has the offense clicking … ISU is averaging 31.2 points (fifth-most in school history) and topped 30 points in five of nine Big 12 games … with Becht finding Higgins and Noel at a record clip, ISU is averaging 258.0 passing yards. • ISU’s defense, under Jon Heacock’s direction, is first in the Big 12 and ranks 18th nationally allowing just 19.6 points per game … it is the fewest points allowed by a Cyclone defense since 2005 … its passing defense has been stout, yielding just 156.9 yards per game (third nationally) … ISU has held a nation’s best four opponents to under 100 yards passing … in seven games, opponents have had less than 100 yards either rushing or passing. • The Cyclone defense has a +9 turnover margin, which ranks among the top 20 nationally … seven different Cyclones have combined for 14 interceptions to rank among the nation’s top 20. • Iowa State is the Big 12’s best team on fourth down, converting at an 80 percent clip (16-for-20) … it also ranks second in the FBS behind only Minnesota (88.9) … ISU has six games this season with multiple fourth-down conversions which is tied for its most in a season since joining the Big 12 in 1996 … the Cyclones are 6-0 when converting two or more fourth down attempts this year. J ISU has allowed just 12 passes longer than 25 yards this season. • ISU has allowed just 167 opponent completions this season, among the top-5 nationally (3rd) for fewest completions allowed … the 1,863 passing yards allowed are also the third-fewest by an FBS team this season behind only Texas and Ohio State … opponents are completing just 52 percent of their passes and averaging just 5.9 yards per pass attempt against the Cyclones, which is the 10th-fewest nationally. • Iowa State has scored 20-plus points in 14-straight games, the second-longest active streak among power conference teams (Miami, 16). J ISU is 15-5 in its last 20 games with an 8-2 record in road games. • ISU has the third-most takeaways in the Big 12 Conference (21) … it is the most for Iowa State since having 21 in 2013. J ISU is among the nation’s least penalized teams committing just 49 penalties (4.1 per game), which ranks fourth nationally … ISU’s 352 penalty yards (29.3 per game) are the third fewest nationally … in four games this season ISU has recorded two or fewer penalties.
RUSHING ATTACK
• Iowa State has rushed for 24 TDs through 12 games this season after having 16 in 13 games in 2023. • ISU has 1,975 rushing yards in 2024, compared to just 1,559 in 2023. • Iowa State’s 4.4 yards per carry is its best since 2021. • Carson Hansen’s 11 rushing TDs are more than ISU’s leader from a season ago (Abu Sama, 6) and the most by a Cyclone since Breece Hall had 20 in 2021 … he is the first non-QB Cyclone not named David Montgomery or Breece Hall to rush for 10 TDs since FB Ryan Kock had 10 in 2005 (Kock’s son Caden is on the 2024 Cyclone roster). • Hansen was the first Cyclone to have had 90+ rushing yards in three-straight games since Hall did it in 2021. • The Cyclones rushed for 200+ yards in three-straight games (Arkansas State, Houston, Baylor) for the first time since 2021. • Becht rushed for a career-high 97 yards against UCF, the most by a Cyclone QB since Brock Purdy rushed for 102 against TCU in 2019.
IN THE (RED) ZONE
• ISU has been in the red zone 55 times this season, scoring 34 touchdowns (61.8 percent) … last season, ISU scored touchdowns 60.7 percent of the time when in the red zone … opponents, meanwhile, have just 26 red zone trips this season (16 touchdowns) … the 26 red zone trips by opponents are tied for the third-fewest nationally, behind only Texas and Penn State. • Since the BYU game last season (15 games), ISU has converted 63.5 percent of its red zone opportunities into touchdowns (40-for-63) … since the Oklahoma State game last season (Sept. 23, 2023), ISU has converted all but eight red zone chances into points (74-of-82) … one of the empty chances was a kneel down inside the opponent five-yard line. J• SU has topped 90 percent in the red zone in five of the first eight seasons under Campbell … opponents have only been above 90 percent in the red zone twice in his tenure.
ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS NOTES
THE GAME
#12 (AP) Sun Devil Football will look for its first outright conference championship and first 11-win season since 1996 this weekend at the team heads to Arlington and AT&T Stadium to take on #16 Iowa State for the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship on Saturday, Dec. 7. Scheduled for a 10 a.m. AZT/11 a.m. local kickoff, the contest will be broadcast nationally on ABC (Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer, Katie George). The game will also be available over the local airwaves in Arizona on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (Tim Healey, Jeff Van Raaphorst, Kevin Turner, Jeff Munn).
ON IOWA STATE/BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
This will be the first meeting between the Sun Devils and Iowa State, marking the fourth time this season ASU has played an opponent for the first time in its history. Iowa State comes into the game having reached 10 wins for the first time in program history. This is the second conference championship game ASU has participated in, also competing in the 2013 Pac-12 Championship. Iowa State is making its second Big 12 Championship appearance
KICKING OFF
• ASU’s 10-2 record already marks a seven-win improvement – at minimum – over the team’s 3-9 record a season ago. The seven-win improvement is already two games better than the previous best turnarounds in program history and trails only Indiana’s eight-win improvement this season among FBS programs. • The Sun Devils are just the 8th Power 4/5 team since 2012 to increase their win total by 7 games from one season to another (8 – TCU, ‘21-22, Indiana ‘23-24/7 – Mizzou ‘12-13, Syracuse ‘17-18, USC ‘21-22, UW ‘21-22, Northwestern ‘22-23). • With ASU vacating its wins in the 2021 season, the 10 wins this season surpasses the team’s combined win tally from 2020-2023 (8 wins). • ASU was one of only 13 teams to go undefeated in the month of November (5-0). Of those 13 teams, only 7 are from a Power 4 conference (including Notre Dame). ASU was one of only four teams the FBS to go 5-0 in the month of November. • Since Week 6, no FBS wide receiver has as many yards as Jordyn Tyson’s 749 – second behind only Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr.. His 481 receiving yards in the month of November leads all FBS players. • Among players with at least 500 snaps, redshirt freshman QB Sam Leavitt is the nation’s highest-graded freshman player on offense OR defense with his overall offense grade of 89.4 (min. 500 snaps) – 5.2 points higher than South Alabama’s Gio Lopez (84.2) who is in second. He is 11.9 points ahead of Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava for the highest freshman grade among Power 4 freshmen quarterbacks (77.5). • Leavitt’s 89.4 grade for the season is tied for the seventh-best among all FBS freshman quarterbacks in the PFF era since 2015 (min. 500 snaps played). Of the seven players tied or ahead of him, six have started an NFL game this season (Brock Purdy, Trevor Lawrence, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, C.J. Stroud and Spencer Rattler). • ASU is 5-0 in games decided by a seven points or less and 6-1 in games decided by one score (8 points or less). The 5-0 record is second behind Arkansas State’s 6-0 mark in games of seven points or less and the six wins are tied for second behind only Syracuse (7) for most wins in one-score game. • Cam Skattebo ran for three touchdowns in the first half of each of the last two games.
AN ASU VICTORY WOULD…
• Be the program’s first outright conference championship since 1996 (cochampion in 2007). • Give ASU 11 wins in a season for the first time since 1996 (11-1) and just the sixth time in program history (Frank Kush four times, Bruce Snyder once). • Mark the Sun Devils as one of just three Power 4/5 teams since 2012 to increase their win total by eight games from one season to the next (TCU ‘21-22, Indiana ‘23-24) • Improve ASU to 4-0 against AP-ranked opponents this season. It would match ASU’s most wins against Top-25 teams since 2014 (4) and be tied for the second-most single season AP wins in program history (5 in 1986).
