Texas Football: Iowa State defense toughest Longhorns face all season?

Despite some good pieces on offense for the Iowa State Cyclones, the defense might be the biggest challenge to overcome for Texas football.

This is going to be one of those games for No. 15 Texas football, against the Iowa State Cyclones at home in Week 12, in which the matchup battle is going to be extremely important. Any team that faces Iowa State this season knows how good of a head coach and gameplanner that Matt Campbell became in his time in Ames so far.

On the other hand, head Texas football coach Tom Herman is one of those that falls into the category of rising and falling to the occasion. Essentially Herman is making a big name for himself even outside the Forty Acres from the way that he plays up and down to the competition.

This does seem like a Texas football team that could hang with really anyone in the nation possibly outside of the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers. Even a team like the Texas Longhorns facing Clemson would make for a pretty interesting matchup. However, Texas has a big game on tap on Week 12 of the regular season with Iowa State’s four-game winning streak on the line.

Iowa State might be the hottest team in the Big 12 right now. You’d have to figure that Iowa State would love to have another shot at the TCU Horned Frogs and Oklahoma Sooners in Big 12 play this year. Turning the offense over to this true freshman quarterback leading the way now was one of the most impactful and beneficial moves to any team in the Big 12 in 2018.

Yet, the focus here is on something that might be overlooked by some that are Horns faithful. Iowa State actually brings a top defense in the Big 12 to Austin, TX, on Nov. 17. This defense is by far the most stout in the conference against the run. Iowa State’s front seven is allowing just 3.1 yards per carry and is the only team in the Big 12 that has allowed less than 1,000 total rushing yards on the season.

Since a good portion of balancing the Texas offense and keeping it effective relies on running up the middle, this could be a difficult matchup. As a team, Texas is just one of four Big 12 teams that average less than four yards per carry. The other three teams include the Texas Tech Red Raiders, TCU, and ironically Iowa State.

It seems like the way that the Horns are going to be able to knock off the Cyclones from an offensive perspective is through the air. Iowa State still has one of the better pass defenses in the Big 12 in terms of efficiency, but it can be beat. Texas has the weapons to get past this stout Iowa State secondary.

While it might be another game that seemingly involves quarterback Sam Ehlinger and wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey against everyone else, that could be the key to getting past this Iowa State defense. If junior wideout Collin Johnson returns to the lineup this week, that would be big for this Texas passing game too.

All in all, it does seem pretty clear that Iowa State is the best defense that the Horns will face all season. TCU might be the only proponent that comes even close to the Iowa State defense, but Texas was still able to put up 31 points in that game earlier in the year.