No. 22 Iowa State will look to shake off its first loss of the season when the Cyclones face Colorado in a Big 12 matinee Saturday in Boulder, Colo.
Colorado hopes to have coach Deion Sanders on the sideline. In his weekly press conference, Sanders said he will have a four-hour procedure and expects to be back at practice on Wednesday. Sanders said last week he was “hurting like crazy” and believed blood clots had returned to his leg.
“It’s a long procedure,” Sanders said Tuesday. “But I am having a procedure today, and prayerfully I’ll be back at practice tomorrow. I don’t plan on missing practice.”
Cyclones coach Matt Campbell said a 38-30 loss at Cincinnati last week came down to a lack of execution in all three phases. Iowa State fell behind 31-7 before a second-half rally came up short.
“For the first time all season, for a quarter and a half we just didn’t have it,” Campbell said. “The character of our football team, to regain it, is really impressive.”
Rocco Becht completed 30 of 48 passes for 314 yards, and a pair of passing and rushing touchdowns. But Iowa State couldn’t overcome injuries as 16 Cyclones missed the game. Even without a full complement of players, Iowa State (5-1, 2-1) racked up 470 yards of offense but surrendered 474 yards to the Bearcats.
Cincinnati held a 260-156 edge in rushing yards.
“We didn’t play great defense in the first half,” Campbell said. “No one is saying we did. But the ability to make adjustments and get ourselves corrected in-game was really impressive.”
While Iowa State started slowly last week, the Buffaloes (2-4, 0-3) mounted a 14-0, first-half lead at TCU. However, the Horned Frogs forced four Colorado turnovers and won 35-21.
Buffaloes quarterback Kaidon Salter connected on 18 of 29 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns, with three interceptions. It’s been an up-and-down campaign for the senior transfer from Liberty. Sanders said Colorado has played well outside of a few quarters of its three-game Big 12 losing streak.
“We haven’t gotten our butts kicked,” Sanders said. “We’ve wrapped up the game and given it to them, and that’s frustrating. But also there’s hope in that. We see where we are messing up. Where the faults are. And we have to fix that. So there’s truly optimism; we are right there.”
Colorado receiver Omarion Miller caught six passes for a season high 89 yards at TCU. The junior also added two touchdown catches. Sophomore receiver Dre’Lon Miller moved to running back and had 14 yards but was part of a contingent that had 35 carries for 126 yards.
The Buffaloes have rushed for 100 yards in five of six games. It’s also the first time since 2022 that Colorado has gone over 100 yards in three straight games.
“We are running the heck out of the ball,” Sanders said. “… We can’t just run with eight players in the box. You’ve got to count the people in the box. You can’t just run because it looks cute on television. We’ve got to do what’s best for our team and take advantage of certain opportunities.”
