Texas Tech-Oklahoma State Highlight Vegas Big 12 Predictions Week 5

Saturday Blitz Vegas Big 12 Predictions Week 5

No. 7 Baylor Bears at Iowa State Cyclones

Line: Baylor by 21

The Baylor Bears finally have a game against a halfway decent team this weekend. Ironically, that is a team that lost to an FCS program. But Iowa State on the road is still their toughest test yet. Bryce Petty, as long as he’s healthy, will look to finally launch his Heisman campaign this weekend after not having the chance to do that over the first few weeks. But with his injury issues, Baylor may want to consider turning to the running game. Iowa State is giving up on average more than 5 yards per carry, and the Bears have a very good running game with Shock Linwood and Johnny Jefferson. The ground could be the key to winning and keeping Petty healthy enough to handle the long, upcoming Big 12 season.

Iowa State, meanwhile, should focus on coming after Petty and blitzing a lot. They should attack to try to stop the run game and also get a few hits on Petty, if he plays, to possibly rattle him. The game plan shouldn’t change either even if Petty doesn’t play. Stopping the run has to be key. As far as the offense goes, there’s no way of saying what the Cyclones should do because they have not shown anything impressive on that side of the ball so far. However, Sam B. Richardson showed that he’s capable of making plays and playing efficient at quarterback, so if Iowa State leans on him for a few nice drives and finds a way to force Baylor to make mistakes by attacking the offense, maybe they could squeak out a win at home.

Prediction

Obviously, Iowa State has drawn more interest despite being 1-2 and losing to an FCS program in North Dakota State because they beat Iowa and almost lost to Kansas State. That interest and semi-hype won’t be enough on Saturday, though. The Cyclones will struggle with Baylor from the start and lose by a pretty good-sized margin. The Bears are just too good, with or without Petty, and they’ll run it down Iowa State’s throat.

Baylor: 38 Iowa State: 10