Colorado Buffaloes vs Iowa State Cyclones: A Statistical Look

Oh boy, how hard is that chart to look at. Look at all those big numbers underneath the rankings column. Can you believe that Iowa State offense averages 7 more points than the Buffs. What we would do for 25 points a game. U-G-L-Y chart. Never in my wildest dream did I think that CU would be competing with Iowa State for the cellar in the Big 12. More analysis after the jumpity jump...

National	Conf	Actual	Category	Actual	Conf	National
Rank	Rank				Rank	Rank
79	10	130.11	Rushing Offense	132.33	9	75
95	12	181.56	Passing Offense	219.78	10	56
100	12	311.67	Total Offense	352.11	11	71
107	12	18.44	Scoring Offense	25.56	11	63
78	9	155.89	Rushing Defense	180.56	10	95
69	5	126.99	Pass Efficiency Defense	167.21	12	116
72	5	369.56	Total Defense	451.56	12	109
82	9	28.56	Scoring Defense	34.67	12	108
93	8	32.92	Net Punting	36.83	5	30
56	8	9.69	Punt Returns	9.53	9	58
54	10	21.68	Kickoff Returns	25.16	2	8
87	10	-0.44	Turnover Margin	0.67	5	29
72	1	213.67	Pass Defense	271	10	111
94	12	110.06	Passing Efficiency	120.87	11	75
47	6	2	Sacks	1.56	9	T-83
T-66	5	5.56	Tackles For Loss	5.56	5	T-66
95	10	2.44	Sacks Allowed	1.67	7	52

So what to take away from the stats. Iowa State is really bad on offense and defense. The Buffs will have the advantage when Iowa State is on offense. But who knows with either of these teams. The scary thing for me is special teams. I know the Cyclones are not great but the Buffs are one of the worst in the country on special teams. I see that Kick Return average and it makes me cringe a little bit. The Buffs have been prone to giving up big plays and Iowa State's Leonard Johnson broke the major college football single-game record for kickoff return yards Saturday in a 59-17 loss against No. 9 Oklahoma State. The freshman had 319 kickoff return yards on nine returns, including returns of 72, 73 and 48 yards. This is the kind of game that special teams becomes important. Two struggling offenses who have trouble scoring. Playing with a short field can make any offense better and give a team huge momentum. Another thing that Iowa State is known for is forcing turnovers on defense. The Cyclones have 23 take aways on defense. To put that in perspective, the Buffs only have 14 this year and of course, CU has a negative turnover margin. The problem for Iowa State is their offense has been so bad that they have given the ball away 17 times, negating a lot of the opportunities the defense has given them.

Therefore, the big worries for the Buffs should be not giving the Iowa State offense any help with turnovers and penalties. Keeping the special teams under wrap is also important. With Jameson Davis having one of the better kickoffs for touchback %'s in college football, you would expect to be able to nuetralize Johnson. Finally, I think the Buffs need to be physical. Dominate the trenches and pound Scott straight at this defense. Break the will of this Iowa State team with a heavy dose of Hansen and Scott. Big George Hypolite will need to have a positive game like last week on the defensive side of the ball. I look for the Buffs to win this game if Brad Jones and Hypolite can wreak havoc in the backfield.