Analysis: Iowa State football enters November atop the Big 12 after beating Baylor

WACO, Texas – Iowa State will begin November in first place in the Big 12.

The Cyclones – improbably, shockingly, mystifyingly – share the league’s top spot after a 30-18 road victory over Baylor on Saturday to improve to 4-1 in conference play.

By virtue of this three-game winning streak along with Kansas’ upset of Oklahoma earlier in the day, Iowa State (5-3) will enter the season’s final month with a real, albeit difficult, path back to the Big 12 championship game for the first time since the magical 2020 season.

It has been an incredible turnaround for the Cyclones, who have a loss on their resume to Ohio and entered October with just one win over an FBS opponent. They’ve done it with their typically stifling defense and an offense that has taken great strides in the last six weeks after a horrendous start.

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Iowa State, now just one win away from bowl eligibility, largely controlled play Saturday on both sides of the ball against the Bears (3-5, 2-3), but the Cyclones couldn’t slam the door completely shut until late in the fourth quarter.

After back-to-back Baylor touchdowns, Iowa State finally got the crucial stop with just over 4 minutes to play, forcing the Bears off the field with a turnover on downs on the Cyclone 22-yard line to put the game away.

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht was 19 of 31 for 238 yards, a touchdown and one interception. Eli Sanders had 90 yards on 14 carries while Cartevious Norton had 58 yards on 10 carries.

Baylor managed 306 yards of offense on the day. The Cyclones got an interception from safety Malik Verdon and a forced fumble by Carson Willich that was recovered by Joey Petersen. Tyler Onyedim and J.R. Singleton both had sacks for the Cyclones.

Iowa State played the entire second half without its top cornerback, T.J. Tampa, who was disqualified with a targeting penalty late in the second quarter. He will be eligible to play the entire game next week against Kansas.

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A pair of Cyclone turnovers and a late second-quarter touchdown from Baylor kept the game closer than the stats would have suggested in the first half, with Iowa State taking a 17-6 lead into halftime.

The Cyclones looked as though they would quickly put the Bears away in the second half with a 49-yard touchdown run from Norton on the opening possession followed by a three-and-out by the Bears and another Chase Contreraz field goal to go up three touchdowns.

Baylor, however, finally found some rhythm offensively midway through the third quarter that allowed it to make the Cyclones sweat until the final minutes.

Still, it was yet another in a string of impressive performances from Iowa State that now has the Cyclones in position to play high-stakes November games just a year after going 4-8 and after losing five starters this past offseason to the state’s gambling probe.

If the Cyclones, though, are going to translate opportunity into achievement, they’ll have to do it against some of the Big 12’s best.

Iowa State’s final four-game stretch of the regular season includes contests vs. the Jayhawks (3-2), at BYU (2-2), vs. Texas (3-1) and at Kansas State (4-1). It comes in a jumbled Big 12 that could see as many as five teams tied for first place by Saturday's end.

The Cyclones, after looking moribund in the middle of September, are not only alive, but thriving as the season heads into its most crucial stretch.

Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football tied atop the Big 12 after beating Baylor