Iowa State

Jayden Higgins, Wide Receiver 

Higgins has been stellar for the Cyclones this season. The senior wide receiver has hauled in a team-high 62 receptions for 791 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. 

Higgins was also very productive last season–his first as a Cyclone–and led the team with 983 receiving yards and six touchdown receptions.

His most productive game last season coincidentally came against upcoming opponent Cincinnati, where he caught six passes for 172 yards.

In last week’s loss to Kansas, Higgins had a quieter game by his standards, catching the ball seven times for 88 yards and no touchdowns.

Higgins hasn’t been held out of the end zone for two consecutive weeks since weeks 10 and 11 of last season. Combine that with his history of giving the Bearcats trouble, and all signs point towards Higgins being in for a big game on Saturday night.

Jaylon Jackson, Running Back

Jackson saw his role grow from getting just four carries for 13 yards in the season opener against North Dakota to looking like a lead back just five weeks later after a 107-yard, two touchdown performance against Baylor in week six. 

Since that game, Jackson has seen his production decrease incrementally week after week, culminating in getting just two carries for two yards in last week’s loss against Kansas. 

Jackson also hauled in one pass in the game and made the most of it. He took it 27 yards for a touchdown.

The Cyclones’ rushing attack struggled last week against Kansas, only gaining 78 yards on 24 carries. These struggles could lead the offensive coaching staff to get Jackson more involved in the offense after he showcased his big play ability in the limited touches he had. 

Malik Verdon, Safety, and Domonique Orange, Defensive Tackle

Verdon and Orange are combined here because both were absent in last week’s loss against Kansas.

Their absences played a huge role in the Cyclone defense’s worst performance of the season, giving up 45 points and 532 total yards.

Verdon, despite missing the majority of the game, is still the Cyclones’ leading tackler with 58 total tackles. He also has five pass deflections, an interception and a forced fumble this season. 

Orange has been the anchor on the interior defensive line along with senior J.R. Singleton over the last two seasons. The junior has 10 tackles this season.

It’s unclear what both players’ statuses are heading into Saturday, but it’s safe to say that the Iowa State defense would benefit greatly from having them on the field.

Cincinnati 

Brendan Sorsby, Quarterback

Sorsby has had an interesting career in his three years as a collegiate athlete.

The redshirt sophomore played pretty well last season as a freshman at Indiana, all things considered. He played in 10 games, threw for 1,587 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 57% of his passes. He also added 276 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. 

But, after former Indiana head coach Tom Allen was fired in favor of Curt Cignetti, Sorsby entered the transfer portal and chose Cincinnati as his landing spot.

Indiana hasn’t seemed to miss Sorsby, as they are 10-0 for the first time in school history with Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke at quarterback, but that doesn’t mean Sorsby has been bad; he’s actually been very solid. 

Sorsby has improved on a solid freshman season, having thrown for 2,387 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions while adding 192 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. 

With the Cyclone defense being hampered by injuries and coming off of their worst performance of the season, Sorsby has the chance to put the final nail in the coffin in the Cyclones’ hopes of a Big 12 championship game appearance.

Corey Kiner, Running Back

Since week one, the biggest concern with the Cyclone defense has been their ability to stop the run. 

Week after week it has been a problem and last week’s loss against Kansas was no different, as Iowa State allowed 237 yards on the ground on over five yards per carry.

In comes yet another good running back in Kiner.

Kiner started his career at LSU before transferring to Cincinnati in his sophomore season. 

The now-senior is in his third season at Cincinnati and is on pace for his second consecutive 1,000 yard rushing season after totaling 1,047 last season. This season, Kiner has run the ball for 783 yards and three touchdowns on 5.3 yards per carry. 

The Cyclone defense is ranked second to last in the Big 12 in rushing defense with little signs of improvement, so Kiner could be in for another big night on the ground. 

Jared Bartlett, Linebacker

Bartlett is a sixth-year senior from Miami, who spent the first five seasons of his career at West Virginia.

Bartlett has been a great addition for the Cincinnati defense. He is second on the team in total tackles with 49, leads the team with a career high 6.5 sacks and has three pass deflections on the season. 

Bartlett faced his former team last week, recording seven tackles and a sack in the Bearcats’ 31-24 loss to West Virginia. 

Bartlett has done a little bit of everything for Cincinnati this season, so expect him to give the Iowa State offense some trouble Saturday night.