Iowa State Football: Texas Tech bout could decide who’s third-best in Big 12
A key matchup that could determine the title picture in the Big 12 could be overlooked in Week 9 between Iowa State football and the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
A showdown at this point of the 2018 campaign that really no on around the Big 12 thought would still be a relevant battle for positioning near the top of the standings was Iowa State football taking on the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Oct. 27. Iowa State football gets the Red Raiders at home in a matchup between two teams trending in the right direction.
Texas Tech carries a record of 5-2 (3-1 Big 12) entering this game while the Cyclones enter with a 3-3 (2-2 Big 12) record. Iowa State’s two losses came at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners and the TCU Horned Frogs. Those losses to Oklahoma and TCU did come before freshman sensation quarterback Brock Purdy was thrown into the mix.
Moreover, after missing the Iowa State win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys on the road a few weeks back, junior running back David Montgomery looks set for the stretch run. Montgomery had a huge outing in the upset win over the West Virginia Mountaineers at home in Week 7. He set a season-high in rushing yards with 189 and also had one touchdown on the ground.
For Texas Tech, true freshman quarterback Alan Bowman is back to full health and productivity after experiencing a scary injury with a collapsed long in the loss to West Virginia. Bowman returned to action in last week’s win over the Kansas Jayhawks with more than 400 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Purdy and Bowman battling it out at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames promises to be one of the most interesting quarterback battles in the Big 12 this year. Iowa State is a three point favorite over the Red Raiders. If Iowa State claims the win, then it will have the same record in Big 12 play as Texas Tech.
However, a Texas Tech win would mean that it is tied with Oklahoma and West Virginia and would trail only the Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 standings. With how much momentum both Texas Tech and Iowa State have coming into this matchup, it does appear as if the winner is pretty much the third best team in the conference.
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Both Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury and head Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell are doing great things with their respective programs this fall. Kingsbury’s solid 2018 campaign came out of nowhere and Campbell is continuing what he started in Ames last year. This should be one of the best under the radar games of Week 9.