Can Iowa State football build on recent offensive success?
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AMES – Don't let Aiden Flora's swift-moving shadow cover up the notion that Iowa State's 45-42 win over West Virginia might be a turning point for the Cyclones' offense as a whole, particularly on the passing end.
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Flora captured Big 12 and national player of the week honors following a career-best performance that included 212 rushing yards and five touchdowns (three rushing, two trick-play passing touchdowns). It would be difficult for a video-game expert to replicate such a headline-worthy performance on "College Football 27."
In that same game, the Cyclones enjoyed other notable marks on offense. Iowa State put up season-highs of 45 points and 577 total yards. Quarterback Jaylen Raynor might have turned the corner or at the very least put together a solid performance that he can build off of.
Raynor completed 70.4% of passes for 264 yards. Both numbers are season-highs for the senior signal-caller.
"I was able to keep my eyes up and see what I needed to see down the field and really key into my read key and be able to progress through the progressions and things like that," said Raynor, also complimenting the pass protection by his offensive line and running backs picking up blitzers. "I was very intentional about my feet and my eyes this week through practice and the timing of the routes and everything like that was on point. The receivers were where they were supposed to be, and I think we did a pretty good job."
The intentionality helped make a difference. Raynor worked well in the pocket and he hit some throws on the run. It also helped having his teammates at the right place and time to help move the chains.
After the Sept. 26 loss to Utah, coach Jimmy Rogers challenged his players to "do their job," stressing the execution of the finer details for all 11 Cyclones who take the field at any given moment. The way a play is performed in a game should be a carbon copy of how it was executed in practice.
While the spotlight and microscope will naturally be on Raynor as quarterback and co-captain of the team, there is also responsibility on the receiving corps.
"Being where you're supposed to be, when the quarterback needs you to be there," said receiver Omari Hayes of how the Cyclones can replicate the success they had in the passing game against West Virginia. "(BYU's) a good defense and they're going to be where they need to be, so we have to be where the quarterback needs to be.
"(Details) make a big difference. That's the difference between an incompletion and a completion, or an interception and an incompletion. If you have a slant route and you take two steps instead of three, now you're closer to the linebackers and now the quarterback can't throw you the ball."
There is certainly still room for improvement. Despite the high-scoring final result, the Cyclones were slow to get going and stalled out in their first couple drives. Raynor also threw a second-half interception that gave the Mountaineers momentum to come back from a two-touchdown deficit, but there were also promising signs that showed the Iowa State passing offense can be capable.
"I know Jaylen wants a couple back in this game, if you would ask me," Rogers said. "You guys look at (passing) as like a statistical thing, I look at it as like, was everybody in the right spot?
"… Everybody wants plays back. Overall, I feel like there's been growth on that side of the football and we're putting guys in a position to have success and kind of figuring out now after so many games, what is their skill and how can we continue to build the scheme around them."
The Oct. 3 performance will be an important building block as the Cyclones move forward. They'll have a formidable challenge on Friday, Oct. 9, when they face No. 8 BYU on the road. It'll be their third top 25-ranked opponent of the season.
No one expects the Cougar defense to be as porous as the Mountaineers. The Cougars allow 14.3 points per game (fourth-best in the Big 12). They boast a stingy run defense that holds opponents to 75 rushing yards per game, the second-lowest mark in the conference, so it may be imperative to get the passing game going.
Iowa State has had previous success on the ground, but the Cyclones got to see what offensive cohesion could bring. Between offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl's play-calling and mixing up the attack to establishing the run (which also opened up run-pass options and play-action passes to keep the defense off-balance), there was plenty of positives when members of the Cyclone offense did their jobs. They also had an improved showing on first and second downs, which trimmed the number of the third-and-long situations compared to past contests.
Was it a one-time deal or the start an upward trend and continued production?
"(Against West Virginia), I felt like we had the most plays where everybody did their job on the exact specific play," Hayes said. "We did that the most that game, and that's why we were able to win. … Now, it's just us knowing that's what we're capable of every week, and I guess we showed it, so now we have proof that we can do that. We just have to go out and do it."
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Can Iowa State football build on recent offensive success?