How and what to watch for No. 23 Iowa State vs. Kansas

The No. 23 ranked Iowa State Cyclones (3-2) will be looking to bounce back from their loss last week to No. 6 ranked Oklahoma State when they take on the winless Kansas Jayhawks (0-5) on Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas.

This is the perfect get-right game for the Cyclones, who suffered a three-point loss to the Cowboys last week. Junior quarterback Brock Purdy completed 55.9 percent of his passes for 162 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. It was the first time since Week 1 against the Ragin’ Cajuns that Purdy had a turnover.

And he should rebound against a horrible Jayhawks’ defense. Kansas is conceding 207.6 rushing yards and 45 points per game this season. Iowa State sophomore running back Breece Hall might be able to eat a lot on Saturday afternoon, and has already rushed for 716 yards and nine touchdowns in 2020. He’s on pace to surpass his rushing totals from last season (897 yards, 9 TDs) perhaps as early as today.

As for the Jayhawks, there’s not a lot of good things to say about Les Miles’ crew. Winless even in conference play, and now without standout running back Pooka Williams Jr., who opted out of the rest of the season. This season Williams only had 196 rushing yards, but in 2019, he reached the 1,000-yard mark for the second-straight season.

Without the dynamic Williams, it puts more pressure on sophomore running back Velton Gardner and true freshman quarterback Jalon Daniels to perform at a high level. Gardner has 297 rushing yards on 63 carries and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Daniels has only completed 57 percent of his passes for 381 yards and an interception.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch No. 23 Iowa State vs. Kansas on Saturday, October 31st at 12:00 p.m. ET on FS1, or you can stream it via the Fox Sports Go app with a cable or streaming service login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Iowa State (-28) vs. Kansas
Point Total: O/U 50.5
Money line: N/A

• Iowa State is 2-7 against the spread in its last nine games.
• The point total went under in five of Iowa State’s last seven games.
• Kansas is 0-5-1 against the spread in its last six games.
• The point total went over in six of Kansas’ last seven games.

The Best Bet

One of these weeks, Les Miles and the Kansas Jayhawks will get themselves a win. It will not happen this week as they are going against an Iowa State squad that is looking to bounce back from their lost last week to Oklahoma State. The spread for this is large which screams buyer beware. Therefore, do not be afraid to explore the point total for this game.

Pick: Over 50.5

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