We Speak College Football
Halloween Under the Lights in Ames: No. 24 Oklahoma State’s Air Show Meets a Desperate Iowa State
Iowa State gets its first night game of the season at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, and the opponent is the Big 12’s most entertaining surprise. No. 24 Oklahoma State (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) visits the Cyclones (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) at 7:00 p.m. ET on FS1, with Halloween in Ames as the backdrop.
Almost nobody saw Oklahoma State coming. The Cowboys lost their opener to Tulsa, and first-year head coach Eric Morris — who brought quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running back Caleb Hawkins with him from North Texas — has gone 5-1 since, the only other loss a three-point game at Houston. Mestemaker has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country: 65.7 percent completions, 2,326 passing yards (second-most in the FBS), 20 touchdowns against six interceptions. Oklahoma State averages 40.0 points and 529.1 yards per game, and just hung 598 yards on Colorado in a 57-24 win that put the Cowboys back in the AP Top 25 after a one-week absence.
Iowa State’s week has been about a decision. After playing two quarterbacks in a 39-3 loss to Arizona, head coach Jimmy Rogers announced Tuesday that Jaylen Raynor will start. Raynor has started every game this season, going 93-of-158 for 1,107 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions, with 145 rushing yards and three scores on the ground. The Cyclones need three more wins to reach bowl eligibility, and their path runs through home: their only loss in Ames came against Utah, and their last home game was a 45-42 shootout win over West Virginia.
History gives Iowa State a real argument. The Cyclones won the last two meetings, 20-13 in Stillwater last season and 34-27 in Ames in 2023, though Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 34-22-3. The deciding matchup is Mestemaker against an Iowa State defense allowing 24.1 points per game: if the Cyclones can slow the Cowboys’ tempo and make this a fourth-quarter game, the crowd and the moment give them a shot. If Oklahoma State gets to 40 again, the ranking survives and the Big 12 race keeps its wildest story.
Kickoff: Saturday, October 31, 7:00 p.m. ET. TV: FS1. Venue: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa.
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We Speak College Football
Battle Line Under the Lights: No. 23 Missouri’s Streak Meets an Arkansas Team With Nothing to Lose
The Battle Line Rivalry has a new date and a new time slot, and it loses none of its edge for it. No. 23 Missouri (5-2, 2-2 SEC) travels to Arkansas (3-4, 1-3 SEC) on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network, in the first night game ever played between the teams in Fayetteville, with homecoming festivities wrapped around it at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Recent history belongs entirely to Missouri. The Tigers lead the series 13-4, have won four straight meetings including last year’s 31-17 win, and are 10-2 against Arkansas since the Battle Line Trophy era began in 2015. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz, an Arkansas native, is 5-1 against the Razorbacks. Arkansas has not beaten Missouri since a 34-17 win in 2021.
Both teams arrive off a bye week with something to fix. Missouri’s last outing was a 31-3 loss at Ole Miss on October 17, a flat performance after consecutive SEC wins over Florida and Texas A&M. The Tigers’ season, and their spot in the rankings, depends on showing that afternoon in Oxford was the exception. Arkansas, meanwhile, finally has a pulse: the Razorbacks beat Vanderbilt 31-21 on October 17 to snap a long conference losing streak, giving first-year coach Ryan Silverfield his first SEC win and a full bye week to build a plan for the team that has owned his program.
Silverfield has refused to make the recent failures part of his team’s preparation, but the stakes are plain anyway. Missouri needs this game to stay in the top 25 and keep a New Year’s Day bowl profile alive. Arkansas needs it to legitimize the Vanderbilt result, reach 4-4, and give a homecoming crowd a rivalry win it has waited five years for.
The matchup that decides it is Missouri’s offense against its own inconsistency. If the Tigers play to their standard for four quarters, the streak reaches five. If they start the way they did at Ole Miss, a rested Arkansas team in a loud, hostile building gets the kind of night that resets a rivalry.
Kickoff: Saturday, October 31, 7:45 p.m. ET. TV: SEC Network. Venue: Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
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