Iowa State seeks to end red zone woes Saturday against Arizona State

AMES — How can Iowa State’s offense stamp out its red zone woes?

Perhaps by bypassing that now strife-ridden area within the opponent’s 20-yard line altogether.

It’s a tactic Cyclones offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser’s tried twice this football season by drawing up long passing plays on the first play from scrimmage — and he’s 1-for-2 in that regard, as quarterback Rocco Becht’s 75-yard game-opening connection with wide receiver Brett Eskildsen resulted in a touchdown in last week’s loss to BYU.

“We like to be aggressive early in games, as you guys have seen a little bit,” said Mouser, who hopes to produce more explosive plays when ISU (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) faces Arizona State (5-3, 3-2) at noon on Saturday (TNT) at Jack Trice Stadium. “That was a great way to go out there and set the tone.”

The Cyclones’ other deep early maneuver also turned into a big play, as Becht found Eskildsen for a 66-yard strike in the blowout win over South Dakota. A defender tracked Eskildsen down at the nine-yard line, however, and ISU scored a touchdown three plays later.

But that was when the Cyclones’ only red zone problems were strictly on paper, as four of their so-called failures in that patch of playing field stemmed from kneel downs in victory formation.

Lately, those issues inside the 20 have been caused by miscommunication and/or poor execution — and it helps explain how the once highly ranked Cyclones are currently on a three-game skid.

“We’ve just gotta connect on a couple more plays,” said Eskildsen, who’s averaging 19.5 yards per reception and is tied with tight end Ben Brahmer for the team lead in touchdown grabs with three. “We’re a little off on detail, (but) we’ll be there.”

Being a little off on multiple occasions can lead to big shortcoming, as ISU’s longest losing streak since the 2022 season attests. But the Cyclones’ big play capacity is well-established — and they’re tied for 16th nationally in passing plays spanning 40-plus yards with eight.

The defending Big 12 champion Sun Devils, meanwhile, are tied for 40th in that area after allowing four of their opponents’ pass plays to span the same distance, so there should be opportunities to exploit their second and third levels on Saturday.

“How can we continue to sustain drives and score more points and be just a little better in the moment — which we haven’t been, I haven’t been,” Mouser said. “That’s enough for me to worry about right now.”

The answer to that question could lie in those explosive plays, but a burgeoning running game forms a fully comprehensive response. ISU’s seen two different running backs (Carson Hansen and Abu Sama) rush for 150-plus yards in successive weeks for the first time in program history — though two different players (then-quarterback Joel Lanning and tailback David Montgomery) accomplished the feat in the 2016 season.

And Hansen’s coming off a career-high 152-yard rushing game, while Sama chipped in plenty with nine carries for 63 yards, so the Cyclones’ offense is moving the ball at an elite rate, but points prove to be elusive — for now, at least.

“We’ve gotten a lot better at running the ball this year, for sure,” said tight end Gabe Burkle, a former Cedar Rapids Prairie standout. “We’ve actively attacked that. We understand that we’ve got to finish drives. That’s so important. We can’t just end with field goal on every drive.

“We’ve got to continue to score touchdowns and that’s something we’re talking about, we’re watching film on, and we’re practicing at.”

Understanding one’s issues is one thing. Fixing them is another. But one area that hasn’t flagged for the Cyclones is how much they care about the program — and each other. Big plays stem from deep trust and the latter remains firmly in place.

“I don’t think you see panic,” ISU head coach Matt Campbell said. "I don’t think you see flinching. I don’t think you see quitting. You just keep working through it and we’ll come out the other side of it better.”

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