TUCSON, Ariz. — You could hardly blame them if Iowa State's return from its bye week left Cyclone fans yearning for apple orchards, leaf cleanup and Halloween party planning.
It certainly had to be better than the nearly four hours they spent watching Iowa State get outclassed by Arizona on Oct. 24.
The Wildcats ran roughshod over Iowa State in the first half and ran the clock out in the second in a dominating 39-3 victory over a Cyclone team that has now dropped three of four in coach Jimmy Rogers' first foray into Big 12 play.
Iowa State (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) certainly has not had a forgiving schedule to begin league action with two ranked opponents and these Wildcats, who are unranked in the US LBM coaches poll but 25th in the Associated Press rankings, but the gap between the Cyclones and the Big 12's upper tier has been significant.
The Cyclones just simply were never in this game.
They gave up a 71-yard touchdown on the second play from scrimmage, followed that with a three-and-out on offense and then gave up a touchdown on a 13-play drive to fall behind 15-0 less than 10 minutes in.
Iowa State's defense continued a dismaying run of mighty struggles, getting gouged repeatedly by Arizona until the Wildcats appeared to throttle back in the second half.
The biggest development for Iowa State was the second-half benching of quarterback Jaylen Raynor in favor of backup Connor Moberly.
Both quarterbacks produced similar results, however, with Iowa State's offense barely even breaking skin against Arizona's defense.
For all the optimism Iowa State generated by its encouraging 2-1 start to Rogers' tenure, this team looks more and more like the one many picked to finish last in the Big 12. The talent disparity that existed on the best days for Iowa State has only been exacerbated by injuries that have compounded problems for the Cyclones.
The QB change had to be made
I think Jimmy Rogers was right earlier this week when he said that Iowa State's passing issues were not solely a function of Raynor's play. Iowa State has been decimated by injury at wide receiver, and you could argue they weren't overly talented at that position to begin with.
The No. 1 thing Raynor had in his corner is that he had been playing about as close to error-free football as you could ask.
That changed when he tried to make something out of nothing with an under-duress and ill-advised pitch to Aiden Flora late in the first half.
It was just a really bad play, negating much of what you could squint and see as positives in a first half in which Raynor was 8 of 10 for 106 yards.
If Raynor is no longer avoiding mistakes but actively making them, it's harder to justify leaving him at quarterback as the offense sputters.
Which is why we saw Connor Moberly take the field to begin the second half.
Iowa State's offense didn't fare particularly better under Moberly, though it did convert its first third down of the game in the second half. So there's that.
Moberly looked very much a backup, going 7 for 17 for 63 yards.
The reality is that Iowa State is at a severe talent and playmaking disadvantage on the offensive side of the ball.
Ultimately, Raynor is not the predominant reason that Iowa State is struggling, but when you're QB1 and the offense consistently fails, you become the face of it.
The defense has buckled
In constructing a theory on how Iowa State could be competitive this season and, potentially, even make a bowl game, there was one foundational piece that was almost taken for granted. These Cyclones would have to be salty and effective on defense. After the season's first three games, it looked like a hypothesis in action.
Then it all crumbled.
Utah racked up 411 yards of total offense, West Virginia followed with 518 and BYU tallied 506.
Now, we just saw a good-but-not-great Wildcats team put 321 yards of total offense on the Cyclones in the first half. Arizona appeared to pull off the gas in the second half, which helped keep things from going full video game-numbers, though the Wildcats still finished with a not-insignificant 477 yards.
It's beyond time to continue to consider this Iowa State defense as something that can lead the way to a bowl game. It's now a real question whether this group can fight their way back to average this season.
Certainly, the defense isn't getting help from an offense that does them no favors in time of possession or field position, but injuries and ineffectiveness are now the status quo for this defense in literally every Big 12 game this year.
The Cyclones' personnel limitations are real, but I do think there has to be a basic standard to hold this team to, regardless. And they're nowhere near living up to it right now.
The challenge ahead
Iowa State knew adversity would find it throughout this season, but I think the Cyclones find themselves in their first real crossroads moment of Rogers' tenure.
The offense is ineffective. The defense is getting sliced and diced. The quarterback situation just got messy.
And you've got a very good and very offensively dynamic Oklahoma State team coming into Ames for a night game on Halloween.
If Iowa State doesn't show significant improvement against the Cowboys – or at least settle in to an acceptable status quo – it feels as though it'll be hard to pull out of that downward trajectory.
There's still a lot of season left.
Which feels like both opportunity and ominous right now.
Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Takeaways from Iowa State football's loss at Arizona | Hines