2026 Game X: Iowa State versus Cincinnati preview

Iowa State is back at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday after a 42-31 loss at Baylor that dropped the Cyclones to 4-5. Three games remain, and bowl eligibility means winning two of them. The first is Cincinnati, a familiar problem. Last October the Bearcats beat a 5-0 Iowa State team 38-30 for the Cyclones’ first loss of the season.

Know Your Opponent

Cincinnati is 5-4 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12 in Scott Satterfield’s fourth season, and it has been a bit of a roller coaster. The Bearcats started 4-1 with wins over Boston College, Western Carolina, Miami (Ohio) and Kansas State, then lost 34-7 at Arizona. They stunned No. 8 Texas Tech 37-24 on October 24 and fans stormed the field at Nippert Stadium, but that was one piece of a brutal three week stretch. Cincinnati followed it with losses to Utah and Houston.

The player to watch is quarterback JC French IV, a redshirt senior who transferred in from Georgia Southern. He is a legitimate dual threat. He ran for three touchdowns and threw for another in the season opener, threw for 309 yards against Miami (Ohio), and had a career high four touchdown passes against Texas Tech. He did not throw an interception in Cincinnati’s first five games, though he threw two against the Red Raiders.

The offense does not run only through French, though. Running back Cole Tabb ran for a career high 173 yards against Texas Tech, and through the first five games he was averaging more than 10 yards per carry. He also has a habit of making big plays late, including the 53 yard touchdown run that beat Miami (Ohio) with 1:29 left. As a team, Cincinnati ran for 252 yards against Texas Tech.

The Iowa State Angle

A team that wants to run the ball with a quarterback who can run it too is the kind of test this defense has struggled with all season. West Virginia’s Michael Hawkins and Baylor’s DJ Lagway both did damage with their legs, and French is the same type of player. Tackling and gap discipline will matter more than anything on the whiteboard.

The offense did its part in Waco. Aiden Flora ran for 182 yards, and Jaylen Raynor went 22 of 37 for 256 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. That is the formula for Saturday. Iowa State needs to win the turnover battle, and Raynor has to keep taking care of the football the way he has recently. Cincinnati has a good enough run game that giving it extra possessions is a recipe for a long afternoon, so Iowa State has to play timely football on both sides of the ball.

The other thing working in the Cyclones’ favor is the building. Momentum is a huge deal in this sport, and Iowa State has had a lot of it while playing at home. The Cyclones are 4-1 at Jack Trice this season, and a crowd that gets going early can make a quarterback like French uncomfortable.

The Outlook

This is a game Iowa State has to have. A win gets the Cyclones to five wins with UCF and Kansas State left, while a loss would mean winning out just to get to six. Cincinnati needs one more win to become bowl eligible, so both teams will be playing like it.