Iowa State Football: Big 12 title a serious possibility in 2019

Best defense in Big 12 resides in Ames

In a league that isn’t known for its defense, the Cyclones may have the best defense in the Big 12. Iowa State led the Big 12 in several defensive categories last year and the ones that it didn’t lead in, it was still near the top.

Iowa State was No. 1 in the Big 12 in arguably the most important defensive stat which is points allowed. The Cyclones gave up 22.9 points per game, which is almost 10 points per game lower than the 2018 Big 12 champion Oklahoma.

The defense only gave up over 40 points once the entire season last year, and while I know that is not an eye-opening stat, that can be challenging to do playing the offenses in the Big 12. Also, just to put that into perspective, we will use the Bit 12 champs again, the Sooners gave up 40 or more points six times last year.

The Cyclones were also second in the Big 12 in yards allowed as they surrendered 349.2 per game last year.

The 2019 defense should be just as good if not better than last year’s squad as it returns the majority of its starters.

The Cyclones will be led by their linebackers as Mike Rose (led the team in tackles for loss) and Marcel Spears will hold down the middle of the field. The defensive line will also help anchor the defense as they return Ray Lima, JaQuan Bailey and Enyi Uwazurike, who all started the majority of the games at their position.

Their leading tackler, Greg Eisworth, also returns as he was the strong safety last year and will be at their NB position this year. With all that experience coming back, the Cyclones defense will be No. 1 in several defensive categories again at the end of the season.