Someone will win a game this week as two of the worst teams in the Big 12 go head to head on Saturday with the Iowa State Cyclones hosting the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Cyclones are 3-5 on the season and 0-5 in the Big 12 while West Virginia is 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12. Iowa State has won three of the last four, but West Virginia won the last matchup last season 38-31 as a 14.5 point underdog. Iowa State is a 7 point favorite in this one.
The West Virginia Mountaineers have lost three of their last four games including their last two in a row. Their last win was an impressive 43-40 win over Baylor on a last second field goal. But since then they have lost two in a row, suffering, first, a bad 48-10 beat down against a very beatable Texas Tech team as just a 4 point underdog. Then, the Mountaineers followed that up with a much better showing against No. 7 ranked TCU, who defeated them 41-31 as a 7 point favorite.
JT Daniels to Justin Johnson for the 5 yard TD! #WestVirginia pic.twitter.com/pGjgwynU9h
— ???????????? @???????????????? (@FTBeard7) October 29, 2022
West Virginia played well in this game and with just over 4 minutes left they had cut TCU's lead to 34-31 when quarterback JT Daniels hit Reese Smith on a 23 yard touchdown pass. TCU tacked on an insurance touchdown late, but this was a lot closer than the score would indicate. West Virginia racked up 430 total yards, while giving up 494 total yards. They also had more first downs than TCU with a 25 to 17 edge. Daniels was 23 of 39 for 275 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. CJ Donaldson rushed for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns while Sam James caught 6 passes for 95 yards. West Virginia ranks 32nd in the nation with 34.4 points per game while they give up 34.6 points per game, which is a dismal 122nd in the nation.
And it doesn't help matter that Donaldson injured his leg last week and is out for the season, which means Justin Johnson will likely carry the load in the backfield.