The 2024 Iowa State Cyclones season got off to a bang on Saturday when quarterback Rocco Becht connected with receiver Jaylin Noel for a spectacular 54-yard play. One play later, Becht found receiver Jayden Higgins for a 21-yard score that gave the Cyclones a lead they never relinquished. The closest North Dakota came to threatening the lead came on a 23-play, 88-yard drive that burned 12:24 off the clock. But the Cyclones’ defense stiffened, forcing the Fighting Hawks to settle for a field goal. Iowa State would respond with a touchdown drive of their own and had control of the game heading into the locker room.

Despite the opening drive, this wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing showing from Iowa State. ESPN Bet had the Cyclones favored by 30.5 points North Dakota easily covered. No team will cover the spread of every game, but a team with expectations like the Cyclones should be handling an FCS team away better than they did Saturday.

Still, this game had enough good moments on both sides of the ball that Matt Campbell can hang his hat on heading into Saturday’s game against the Iowa Hawkeyes. If the good aspects can be more consistent, the Cyclones could give the Hawkeyes all they can handle at Kinnick.

Let’s look at five numbers that stood out in the Cyclones’ victory over North Dakota.

5 Numbers That Stood Out From the ISU-North Dakota Game

15.1

Becht was great on play-action passes on Saturday, averaging 15.1 yards per pass. This builds on his strong showing in 2023 when he averaged 11.6 yards per pass. New offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser must have noticed this, dialing up play-action on 33.3% of Becht’s dropbacks, up from 28.7% during the 2023 season, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).

13

Noel and Higgins were unstoppable on Saturday, catching all 13 passes thrown their way. Ten of these receptions resulted in first downs, and they accounted for 210 of Becht’s 267 passing yards. Noel did most of his damage out of the slot (62.9% of snaps), while Higgins got more snaps split out wide (64% of snaps).

3

Skill players can only produce if their quarterback is protected and can get the ball off. PFF credited the Cyclones’ offensive line with only two pressures allowed on 27 dropbacks. In total, Becht was pressured three times, so that’s assuming that there was a blitzing defensive back that was unaccounted for by the offensive line. The 9% pressure rate is a significant improvement over the 2023 mark of 31.7%, although the talent and size of upcoming defenses will be different moving forward.

174

While the Cyclones’ offense took advantage of an inferior defense, the Cyclones’ defense didn’t fare as well. They allowed 174 yards on 42 rushing attempts (4.1 average) even though North Dakota couldn’t establish any passing game. Perhaps most teams won’t stay committed to the run game down three scores, but the Cyclones will also face teams with more offensive talent than North Dakota. The average per run isn’t overly concerning until, again, accounting for who Iowa State faced.

11

The most concerning stat of the day was the 11 third-down conversions that the Cyclones allowed. Six of these conversions came on the 23-play drive, and it’s probably no surprise that only one came on 3rd-and-6 or longer. This ties in with the run defense, consistently giving North Dakota manageable to-go yardage on third-down. Altogether, North Dakota was 11/20 on third-down on Saturday, an unacceptable number moving forward.