Iowa State wins the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl over Oregon 34-17. Five thoughts and analysis of the game, and what it all means.
Iowa State wins the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
Final Score: Iowa State 34, Oregon 17
CFN Prediction: Oregon 26, Iowa State 24
Line: Indiana -7.5, o/u: 67.5
5. The Big 12 delivered in a big, big way
5-0 is 5-0.
You play the team in front of you, it’s not your fault if the other team has issues, and all of those other talking points. It’s all about the scoreboard and the record.
Yes, the Big 12 was favored in all five of the games. Yes, Army was one of those games, a meh Colorado was another, D’Eriq King suffered a knee injury in one, and Florida was missing way too many players in another.
The 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 Autonomy Conference to go 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙. #Big12FB pic.twitter.com/kCGkHcNJDY
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) January 3, 2021
A win is a win is a win, but it’s possible to slightly yuck the Big 12’s yum on a lot of this.
Not on Iowa State’s win in the Fiesta Bowl. It just beat the Pac-12 Champion.
This was a huge win for the Cyclones – more on this later, but it might be the biggest win ever – and it was the one the Big 12 should chirp about more than any of the others.
Oklahoma might have been jaw-dropping great, and Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Texas did what they were supposed to do, but Iowa State was dealing with a very talented, very active Oregon team that looked like it was about to put it all together.
The Ducks still have tremendous talent, and the sky’s the limit going into next year, but …
NEXT: Oregon’s quarterback situation is a problem
4. Oregon’s quarterback situation is a problem
The quarterback shuffling never let either of the quarterbacks find any sort of a groove.
Tyler Shough completed 7-of-9 passes for 79 yards with an interception, but Anthony Brown played more, added more rushing to the mis with 36 yards and two touchdowns, and he got the offense moving a bit …
And the Ducks failed to score in the second half.
🎥 A few highlights from @CycloneFB’s victory in the @PlayStation #FiestaBowl. pic.twitter.com/862mMWXBje
— PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (@Fiesta_Bowl) January 3, 2021
This was going to be a rebuilding year in some ways after losing an NFL franchise talent in Justin Herbert, and Oregon did get 226 passing yards and over eight yards per pass in this, but this offense is supposed to be a whole lot flashier and a whole lot stronger than this.
The Ducks needed their quarterbacks to shine, and more specially, they needed Shough to be fantastic. Now it’s going to be one of the bigger storylines throughout the offseason.
NEXT: Iowa State got a big win
3. Iowa State got a big win, and …
It could be argued that it’s among the biggest wins in the program’s history.
It’s certain the program’s most important and biggest bowl win.
Success is hardly a regular thing for Iowa State football. It has played for around 130 years and never won an outright conference title, it finished on top of the Big 12 standings before the championship game for the first time ever, and it just one its fifth bowl game in 16 tries.
The other bowl wins had their significance, but beating Miami University – not the Hurricanes – in the Independence Bowl wasn’t that big a whoop nationally.
Beating Pitt in the 2000 Insight.com mattered as the first ever bowl win,, and taking out Minnesota in the 2009 Insight and Memphis in the 2017 Memphis were cool, this was a New Year’s Six bowl vs. the Pac-12 Champion.
Iowa State had won just the one bowl against Memphis under Matt Campbell and got rolled last year by Notre Dame in the Camping World Bowl, but now the program has nine-win season and came up with what might have been the strongest season-closing win ever.
There wasn’t anything fluky about it, and there wasn’t anything gimmicky. Iowa State was the better, stronger, sharper team.
And it has a big bowl win over a big Power Five program.
NEXT: Oregon wasn’t able to do what it’s supposed to do
2. Oregon wasn’t able to do what it’s supposed to do
The Oregon style of play is great as long as there’s production behind it. When that fast pace and up-tempo thing isn’t working, there’s a big, big problem.
Give Iowa State credit for stepping up and making Oregon’s offense stop, but the machine wasn’t working.
The rushing attack was just okay all season long, the O was too inconsistent, and when the thing stalled, there was a bit problem. Not caring about time of possession is one thing, but only having the ball for 17:12 is a total disaster.
Again, give credit to Iowa State for dominating the tempo and the time of possession battle, but Oregon needed to be able to take over the game and give its defense a bit of a break, and it couldn’t.
Oregon was 0-6 on third downs, was -4 in turnover margin, and it couldn’t do much of anything to get control in the second half when it needed to.
NEXT: The Iowa State stars stepped up
1. The Iowa State stars stepped up
This was the thing about Iowa State this year – it had experience, and it had good parts to work around.
The Oregon defense obviously focused around stopping Breece Hall, and it sort of did. The All-America running back didn’t break off any huge runs, but he pounded away for four yards per carry, took the offense on his shoulder, and rumbled 34 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
Greatness is a choice.
🌪🚨🌪 pic.twitter.com/k3K1jBp84R
— Cyclone Football (@CycloneFB) January 3, 2021
Breece Hall stepped up, and so did Brock Purdy.
It only seems like he’s been at Iowa State long enough to have handed it off to Troy Davis 30 times a game. He’s a solid veteran who didn’t make any mistakes, did a fantastic job of keeping the chains moving, and was sensational in a high-end, total compliment game manager sort of way.
Control the clock, rely on the defense, don’t make the big mistake.
He ran for 39 yards and a score, he kept plays alive with his feet, and he completed 20-of-29 passes for 156 yards and a score.
Brock Purdy stepped up, and so did Charlie Kolar.
One of the nation’s top tight ends let the Cyclones with five catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. He was the reliable go-to guy when needed, and he stepped up.
LB Mike Rose stepped up. Head coach Matt Campbell stepped up. And as a program, Iowa State just stepped up.
