We made it, folks! The season opener is within sight, and it’s your Iowa State Cyclones versus the Kansas State Mildcats. This is the true test for both programs as we run headfirst into conference play that very well could be the deciding factor in who makes it to Arlington. Both teams, notorious for slow starts and being conservative, are going to have to show the crowd something in their bag of tricks if they want to make it out of Dublin with a Dubs! Here we will cover who we need to keep a watchful
eye on for both squads going into the matchup.
Iowa State
Oh man, oh man. I am so hyped for this season that it’s hard to pick someone from Week 0 to really focus on. We have a few new names in the secondary, a few new names in the trenches, some moves at linebacker, and shockingly, only three “ors” for starting positions (five total starter battles), with two of those being at SLB (three-way fight). Even with all this hype and new players coming in, I think the player to watch is Domonique Orange. Kansas State is going to have a questionable receiving core, a good throwing running back in Avery Johnson, Dylan Edwards as their rusher, but their offensive line took a hit and is being held together with duct tape. Dom last year played in 13 games, had 13 tackles, 11 assisted, five tackles for loss, a sack, and a pass deflection from a swat in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Against KSU last year, he only had a single tackle, but was really getting picked on by the interior offensive line. This year is going to look a little different for Dom. He’s lost some weight and looks more agile, he has help on the outside with Tamatoa McDonough and Ikenna Ezeogu. He has more help on the backend as well with the return of Caleb Bacon, Kooper Ebel, and Will McLaughlin/Carson Willich. The pressure will be high since Avery is a glorified running back with the ability to throw a football. Still, if Dom is left unchecked coming up the middle and making Edwards irrelevant, the rest of the defense can sit back and let Avery do what he does against the Cyclones, resulting in mistake after mistake.
Kansas State
Kansas State is bringing back a slew of defensive power, but if we are talking someone who may cause a problem for Rocco and crew, it’s going to be Austin Romaine. Austin last year had a combined 96 tackles, eight for loss, two sacks, two pass deflections, and three forced fumbles. He was a very valuable player for the defense and is taking on a more leadership role for the Mildcats. He is currently on the watchlists for the Bronko Magurski Award, Chuck Bednarik Award, Butkus Award, and achieved All-Big 12 Second Team in a very stacked linebacker class. Last year, he had 12 combined tackles and a pass deflection showing his skills in pass rushing, run defense and football IQ to put up some hands to deflect a pass.