Peterson's thoughts on Iowa State football victory at Baylor and first place in the Big 12

WACO, Texas — We can all continue shaking our heads about how this Iowa State football team came together.

We can be amazed at how this team tuned out the negative after that disastrous Sept. 16 loss at Ohio and turned it into something I’m not sure we thought would happen this season.

Being in a position to play a November game with at least a share of first place on the line in the Big 12? That’s where this program is after Saturday’s 30-18 victory at Baylor, and after Kansas knocked off Oklahoma.

Yeah, after Saturday, just about anything is possible.

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Iowa State did what it had to do – it opened the playbook early in the game

Coming off a bye week, at a stadium where the Cyclones hadn’t won in a long time, the Cyclones had a master offensive plan.

The first possession went like this: Planned run by quarterback Rocco Becht for 5 yards, five yards up the middle by Eli Sanders, 26-yard pass to Jaylin Noel, and finally an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Higgins.

That four-play, 55-yard drive in just 97 seconds was Iowa State’s first opening-drive touchdown this season.

Coach Matt Campbell said last week that there’s wasn’t a letup in practice. That drive showed it.

“I feel like you’ve seen every young guy we’ve got, so I don’t know if this year we could go into it looking like that,” Campbell said. “Really, our thought process was (that) we didn’t want to miss (the) rhythm of the season.”

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Iowa State couldn’t have finished the first half in a worse way.

Becht’s sixth interception this season was followed by a fourth-down targeting call against Cyclones safety TJ Tampa with 55 seconds left until halftime. After a review, the targeting call on the field was confirmed.

First down Bears at the Iowa State 8, and Tampa, a preseason all-Big 12 selection, was ejected from the game. He’ll be eligible to play the entire game next week at home against Kansas, however.

Two plays after the targeting, Baylor scored on an eight-yard rush, and the PAT was not good.

I liked the way Iowa State responded from its first lost fumble this season.

That happened after true freshman Abu Sama lost the ball at Baylor’s 34-yard line in the first quarter. The defense came through with the save.

On fourth-and-seven from Iowa State’s 34, the Cyclones’ secondary did a good job covering the five receivers Baylor had running routes. Quarterback Blake Shapen was chased out of his comfort zone. He passed incomplete. Iowa State ball.

Then it was Cyclones possession, including a 27-yard run by Sanders after taking a short pitch. Becht was called for intentional grounding. Two plays later, Chase Contreraz a 42-yard field goal gave Iowa State a 10-0 lead with 12:39 left in the half.

That sequence was a perfect example of what this Iowa State defense can do – and has done for years under coordinator Jon Heacock.

Call them greedy or opportunistic. Call Iowa State’s secondary whatever you want to call it.

Malik Verdon grabbed his second interception of the season at the Iowa State 10-yard line. That was significant, considering the play started at the ISU 48. Verdon’s pick kept the Bears from scoring.

Iowa State went into the weekend with 12 interceptions, tied for second in the nation The Cyclones will enter Saturday’s big game against Kansas with 13.

In case you hadn’t noticed, Iowa State doesn’t have a dominant running back. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The Cyclones have five running backs on scholarship. All five played within the first 24 minutes of the game. Not only has that been a successful strategy since starting the Big 12 season, it’s a way to keep everyone happy and fresh.

Eli Sanders started and was the most dominant, A.J. Harris played next, then I lost track who was in the backfield on each play. I know, however, Abu Sama, Cartevious Norton and Carson Hansen also had turns in the backfield.

Norton rushed for a touchdown that provided a 17-0 lead with 3 minutes left in the half. Sanders and Sama had nice runs. And Norton?

On the fourth play of the third quarter, he sped 49 yards behind the right side of the line for a touchdown.

We’d been hearing since the fall camp started that the running back room was full of talent, and remember this: none of those players is a senior.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 51st year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, on X @RandyPete, and at DesMoinesRegister.com/CyclonesTexts

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football beats Baylor, will play big games in November