PRIMER: Iowa State at Baylor - Iowa State Athletics

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State heads to the Lone Star State for a Big 12 Conference showdown against Baylor as ISU looks to get back above .500. Kickoff between the Cyclones and Bears is set for 11 a.m. on FS1.

ISU is coming off a thrilling 51-49 win over No. 24 Oklahoma State.

Who: Iowa State (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) at Baylor (5-3, 3-2 Big 12)
Where: McLane Stadium (45,140) – Waco, Texas
When: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 – 11 a.m. (CT)

The Links
WATCH: FS1
PxP: Eric Collins; Analyst: Spencer Tillman
LISTEN: Cyclone Radio Network – Varsity App, TuneIn Radio or Radio Affiliates
PxP: John Walters; Analyst: Eric Heft; Sideline: Ryan Harklau
GAME NOTES: ISU // BU
LIVE STATS
2026 CYCLONE FOOTBALL YEARBOOK
MEDIA CENTER

INSIDE THE SERIES
24th Meeting
Overall: 11-12
Home: 7-5
Road: 4-7
Neutral: 0-0
Rogers vs. BU: 0-0
Last Meeting: 10/5/2024 (ISU 43, BU 21)

CYCLONES vs. BEARS
Iowa State and Baylor will meet for the 24th time, including for the 12th time in Waco. ISU owns two-straight victories in the series. It is the teams' first meeting since 2024 and the first meeting in Waco since 2023, a 30-18 Cyclone win.

The Cyclones' last two wins in Waco were by an average of 11 points, while its last two road losses in the series were both by two points.

Iowa State is looking for back-to-back road wins in the series for the first time since 2000 and 2004.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
Baylor, led by interim head coach Joe Klanderman following the dismissal of Dave Aranda on Oct. 25, has a 5-3 record on the season and a 3-2 mark in Big 12 play. The Bears return to Waco for their homecoming game fresh off a 41-9 throttling of UCF last weekend in Orlando.

Baylor's defensive unit is allowing only 15.3 points per game, the 12th-best mark nationally, and have held seven of its eight opponents under 20 points this season. Through eight games, Baylor ranks as the third-best rushing defensive turnaround in the last two years. Under Klanderman, the Bears' front seven has flashed. Baylor ranks second in the nation in sacks and third in tackles for a loss entering the weekend and have gone from the nation's No. 122 rush defense in 2025, to the nation's No. 17 unit this season. Baylor's defense has a knack for taking the ball away with six fumble recoveries and nine interceptions on the season, both top-20 marks nationally. Garrick Ponder (9.5) and Traevon Mitchell (7.5) lead the defense in tackles for loss this season.

Offensively, quarterback DJ Lagway leads the charge completing 53 percent of his passes for 1,671 yards and 13 touchdowns. Gavin Freeman poses a real threat down the field, ranking in the top-10 nationally in receiving yards (792), receiving yards per game (99.0) and receptions per game (7.8). On the ground, four players have 40-plus carries and 200-plus yards rushing this season. Dawson Pendergrass leads the way with 338 yards and two TDs.

STAT COMPARISON
ISU		BU
29.0	Scoring (PPG)	30.6
176.6	Rushing Yards Per Game	150.9
4.8	Rushing Yards Per Carry	3.9
14	Rush TDs	9
193.4	Passing Yards Per Game	283.9
122-207-5	Comp-Att-Int	178-312-7
12	Passing TDs	19
370.0	Total Yards Per Game	434.8
5-2	Fumbles-Lost	8-4
45-387	Penalties-Yards	68-602

CYCLONES OUTLAST COWBOYS
Iowa State pulled off an amazing win on Halloween night at Jack Trice Stadium, outlasting No. 24 Oklahoma State for a 51-49 victory. ISU racked up 581 yards of total offense, the most since going for 714 against UL-Monroe in 2019 and the most by ISU in a Big 12 game since 2016 when it had 608 against Texas Tech. It was the second time in program history ISU and its opponent combined for more than 100 points (1983 - #1 Nebraska 72 - ISU 29).

It seemed like it was always going to be a "who had the ball last" game and it was the Cyclones with the best kicker in college football on their side. Kicker Kyle Konrardy did it again, knocking through a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give ISU the win. It was his third career game-winning field goal and the first walk-off for the Cyclones since Connor Assalley beat Texas with a kick in 2019.

Aiden Flora had another huge day, finishing with 221 rushing yards, his second game this season with 200-plus on the ground and third with 190-plus. He scored on runs of 29 yards and 75 yards and averaged 7.6 yards per carry on a career-high 29 rushes.
Jaylen Raynor had his best performance as a Cyclones, finishing 18-for-28 for 309 yards and three touchdowns. It was his first 300-yard passing game at ISU and snapped a five-game losing streak for the Cyclones when having a 300-yard passer. He hit eight different receivers and also rushed for 48 yards in the win.
Freshman wide receiver Jamal Polite Jr. burst onto the scene with six receptions for 171 yards and a touchdown. His 33-yard reception on the final drive of the game set up the game-winning field goal. He also had a beauty of a 43-yard touchdown, toe-tapping to record the score.

FLORA BIG-GAME THREAT
Aiden Flora is responsible for the three best rushing performances in the Big 12 this season (221 vs. OSU; 212 vs. WVU; 194 vs. BGSU). He has recorded at least 200 scrimmage yards and multiple scrimmage touchdowns in three games this season, the first Big 12 player with that many in a season since Cam Skattebo in 2024. Flora is the only player in the country with three games of 190-plus yards rushing this season and is one of three players nationally with two games of 200-plus rushing yards and multiple rushing touchdowns this season.

The former walk-on, who is averaging 7.2 yards per carry, has three rushing scores of 60-plus yards this season, tied for the second-most nationally in 2026 and tied for the fifth-most in a season in Big 12 history.

Flora ranks in the top-10 nationally in all-purpose yards per game (7^th, 142.8), rush yards per carry (4^th, 7.2) and rushing yards (7^th, 937).

OTHER KEY STORYLINES

Saturday's game at Baylor will be Iowa State's first game against an unranked foe since Oct. 3. ISU and Auburn are the only teams nationally that have played five games against ranked opponents.
ISU is 13-9 in its last 22 games away from home, including 10-6 against Big 12 opponents during that stretch.
Iowa State has been bitten by the injury bug among players they expected to be starters or key contributors. Through eight games, ISU has lost double-digit players for the season. The Cyclones are down four of their expected top six receivers heading into fall camp.
Due in large part to those injuries, ISU has 17 first-time college starters this season, tied for the third-most nationally.
The Cyclones are 100 percent in the red zone this season, scoring touchdowns on 14-of-23 possessions (60.9%). They are the only FBS team that is perfect in the red zone this season.
The Cyclones had three players earn Big 12 Player of the Week accolades coming off the win against No. 24 Oklahoma State last weekend. Flora was named offensive player of the week, while Konrardy took home special teams player of the week honors and Polite Jr. earned freshman of the week honors.
Flora needs 63 rushing yards to reach 1,000 this season. He'd be the 26th player in school history to record a 1,000-yard rushing season and first since Breece Hall (2021).
Cyclone linebacker Sullivan Schlimgen is the Big 12's leading tackler with 10.1 stops per game. He has four-straight double-digit tackle games after making 15 tackles at Arizona.
Carson Willich has a career-best 7.0 tackles for loss, including at least one in six of eight games this season.
Makai Sat has started the previous two games at left guard, the first action of his career.
Jaylen Raynor went over 10,000 career passing yards against Oklahoma State. His 10,110 career passing yards are the sixth-most among active FBS quarterbacks.
Raynor has 10 career fourth-quarter game-winning drives, most among active FBS quarterbacks (no one else has more than seven).

CYCAST WITH THE CYCLONE RADIO CREW
John Walters, Eric Heft and Ryan Harklau sit down to preview Baylor ahead of this weekend's game.

To listen, CLICK HERE.

Cyclone Football Radio Crew - Ryan Harklau, John Walters, Eric Heft

WEEKLY MEDIA AVAILABILITY
Jimmy Rogers, Tyler Roehl, Cameron Pettaway, Makai Sat, Seth Johnson and Beau Goodwin spoke with the media on Tuesday. Watch their interviews below.

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Players Mentioned

Aiden Flora

Beau Goodwin

Seth Johnson

Kyle Konrardy

Cameron Pettaway

Jamal Polite Jr.

Jaylen Raynor

Makai Sat

Sullivan Schlimgen

Carson Willich

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics