Miami vs. Iowa State in Pop Tarts Bowl: Game Preview

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00:00in the pop tarts ball between Miami and ACC team left out of

00:08the college football playoff and one of those other big 12

00:11teams in the chase for a conference championship. The

00:14Cyclones of Iowa State that played in the big 12 title

00:17coming up short against Arizona State. Our second top 20 tilt

00:21of our top 25 tilt. I should say of this final Saturday in

00:26the month of December, Miami four and a half point favorite

00:30as we get you set for the pop tarts ball against the

00:33Cyclones. Kev, you made mention of this earlier. Yeah, I do not

00:36think it is a coincidence that the good buddies, Shanor

00:39Sanders and Cam Ward, who often compete against each other even

00:43in the offseason have seen one step up and play and decide to

00:48do the same four and a half point spread in favor of Miami

00:51against Iowa State. How do you start your game breakdown for

00:54the pop tarts ball? So with my desire to bet every ball game

00:59on the side, I have to be able to give myself some grace and

01:02not make a bad wager. Yeah. Last night, A&M USC things ended

01:08up working out. Although at 24 seven, I was pretty frustrated.

01:11I didn't lay with A&M and instead played the over. I say

01:14that because everything around backing Miami is tied to Cam

01:19Ward. It is tied to his availability. It is tied to him

01:23playing the length of this game and there is still clearly

01:27some trepidation around what you're going to get out of Cam

01:31Ward in this matchup. So this is likely the one of the games

01:36that we have today where I'm going to not play the side

01:40though. I lean Miami under the guidelines of Cam Ward is going

01:44to play the full game. That's because if Shanor Sanders is

01:48going to light BYU on fire, Cam Ward is going to come in here

01:51like it's Game of Thrones with multiple dragons slaying

01:54everything in front of him. Just to give the perspective,

01:57BYU, I mentioned what they did against Jalen Daniels and Sam

02:00Levin as a pass defense, giving up a combined 9.5 yards per

02:05pass attempt. Boy, that would have been nice for Iowa State

02:08who played the same two quarterbacks this season and in

02:11two games, 24 for 41, 514 yards, five touchdowns, no

02:18picks, 12.5 yards per attempt. Levin and Dale and Daniels

02:25combined and now Cam Ward checks in in a bowl game where

02:29it could just be, hey, throw it 50 times, kid. We appreciate

02:32you playing. Cam Ward threw every number. Yeah, he might

02:35get through every number. The biggest concern that I have

02:38back in Miami is motivation. You go for a team that was

02:41potentially a college football playoff contender, ACC title

02:45contender, and now they're playing Iowa State in the Pop

02:48Tarts Bowl. That is the biggest thing. I think when you look at

02:51Colorado, when you look at Miami, Colorado on the way up,

02:54Miami, the last two games they lose, they stung, right? It

02:58really cost them in terms of their season. Is it a

03:01disappointment in terms of this factor? Not saying that Cam

03:04Ward isn't going to step up and when you talk about those

03:07numbers that Iowa State gave up, especially to Sam Levin

03:10where they stacked the box, right, and expected Cam

03:13Scott to boot a run early. They beat him over the top with

03:16the passing attack. You look statistically, Iowa State only

03:19giving up 161 passing yards per game, 52% completion

03:23percentage, but the way and you beat Iowa State typically is in

03:27terms of you run the football. Could be a big day for Damian

03:30Martinez, that offense for Miami, averaging 179 rushing

03:34yards per game. They're throwing for 359 through the

03:37air with Cam Ward. I think they look to run it first, work off

03:41a play action and Ward might get to 400, 450. This game

03:45might be a shootout too. I just think from a motivational

03:48standpoint, knowing how Iowa State performed in the Big 12

03:51Championship, knowing that they lost to Memphis in the bowl

03:54game last year. This is a bigger game in my opinion for

03:57Iowa State to make a statement. I think they look to push

04:00around Miami and we've seen Miami play down to the level of

04:03comp. I'll take the points when Iowa State here. The Cyclones

04:07only an underdog one time this year, early on in the season

04:11and their first FBS game in the in-state showdown. That is the

04:14Cyhawk game against Iowa. They came back in the second half,

04:18won that game outright, catching around a field goal.

04:21Here they are getting four and a half. Under Matt Campbell,

04:25when he took the reins in Ames back in 2016, they are 26-18-1

04:31against the spread as a dog. Very profitable. This Iowa

04:35State team though, a little different than years past, at

04:38least in what they do up front. Physically, as Joe alluded to,

04:42fourth best passing team defense by the stats, only

04:45giving up 162 yards per game. As Kev alluded to, in their

04:49step-ups in competition against those lethal aerial attacks,

04:53like Cam Ward and Miami Present, some big numbers to be

04:56had. Here is where the Clones have struggled all year long on

05:00the ground. They're allowing nearly 180 yards per game on

05:04the ground this season. Second worst in the Big 12, Kev. Only

05:08Oklahoma State giving up more than that. We're not entirely

05:12sure who we're going to see today for Miami, but I do

05:15believe there will be a lot of an emphasis on that ground

05:18attack to compliment Cam Ward as well. Yeah, the thing is for

05:21Miami this year, yards per play, they were .5 yards better

05:25than the second best team in college football. So to give

05:28you an idea, the gap between one and two was the gap between

05:30about two and thirteen. Miami was the best offense in the

05:34country bar none. Either way, they could get it, which would

05:40if by chance it comes out that Cam Ward is not going to play,

05:44this line is going to shift massively. If I could get three

05:48and a half, I'm talking plus three and a half with Miami, I

05:52think they could still hang inside this game. Another

05:55reason I am backing off the side in this one game here

05:59because I agree with you. Iowa State sending out just about

06:03everybody. They definitely care about this one. Oh,

06:05absolutely, and I think Matt Campbell cares about it, right?

06:08You know, he was known as an underdog coach and again hasn't

06:11stepped up in critical big spots over the past couple of

06:14years, especially in championship or bold type of

06:17situations. This is an opportunity to get recruiting.

06:20This is an opportunity to knock off a brand name in terms of

06:23Miami.

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