Jaylin Noel and Jay Higgins share the spotlight as No. 9 Iowa State’s top receivers

AMES — Iowa State wide receiver Jayden Higgins is one of a handful of Power 4 conference pass catchers without a drop this season.

So … did he know that?

“No, I didn’t,” the 6-foot-4 senior said, smiling. “I just give all the credit to the coaches and then (quarterback) Rocco (Becht) getting me the ball — just drawing up different plays for me and putting me in situations to succeed.”

Higgins enters Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. (FS1) Big 12 game between the No. 9 Cyclones (6-0, 3-0) and UCF (3-3, 1-2) with 39 catches on 49 targets this season, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). And his ability to stretch the field and sure-handedly haul in jump balls has prompted teammates to compare him to former ISU star Xavier Hutchinson of the Houston Texans.

“(It’s) their competitive endurance, honestly,” fellow senior standout Jaylin Noel said last week. “They’re hungry to go compete each weekend and even throughout the week. Just to be able to go attack the ball the way those guys do, it’s really special.”

Noel’s no slouch in that regard, either. He leads the Cyclones in receiving yards with 528 and yards per catch (18.2) and also has zero drops this season. Noel and Higgins rank among the top nine in PFF’s offensive ratings this season, and both are on track to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards — a feat only six ISU players have accomplished in program history.

  Buy Photo

Hutchinson joined that club as a senior in 2022 and Higgins fell 17 yards short of that lofty number last season.

So how can Higgins and Noel thrive as de facto No. 1 receivers simultaneously?

“I think it’s just the play calling that (offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser) brings to the table and how (that) gets the ball to those guys in different scenarios,” said Becht, who has 10 touchdown passes and three interceptions this season. “Because we’re not trying to just get the ball to one guy the whole game. We want to disperse the ball and make it harder for the defense to cover all the guys.”

Enter Eli Green, the North Dakota State transfer. One of his two catches in last week’s 28-16 win at West Virginia — his first since the season opener — came on a critical third-down conversion. Walk-on Carson Brown has also made some key plays in the passing game to augment Higgins’ and Noel’s big numbers.

“You never know when somebody’s gonna make the big catch,” Becht said. “That’s why everybody needs to be prepared for the moment.”

Becht and his top receivers will try to patiently pierce an improving Knights defense that ranks 12th in the Big 12 against the pass (246.0 yards per game) and second against the run (91.2 yards per game).

So even though UCF has lost three straight games, it maintains an ability to stay multiple and flexible defensively, which may or may not open up more one-on-one opportunities for Higgins and Noel, who can shine outside or attack from the slot.

“I think the friendship of those guys has been probably what’s spearheaded a lot of the success,” said ISU head coach Matt Campbell, whose team is 6-0 for the first time since 1938. “I think if you ask Rocco what allowed him to get off to a great start a year ago, it would have been those two guys’ confidence in each other, and their character and friendship, I think, really helped Rocco get off to a great start and give him confidence.”

Couple that confidence with the humility to share the spotlight and the perfect recipe for a scintillating start to the season emerges. The fact Higgins and Noel each have zero drops merely highlights how the Cyclones continue to operate with nearly zero margin for error if they hope to reach the Big 12 title game and make history by hoisting that gleaming trophy for the first time.

“We’re trying to change the mindset of this school,” Higgins said. “We’re trying to win the Big 12 championship. It means a lot to us, and every week, we’ve got to give it our best.”

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com