Iowa St. Cyclones vs TCU Horned Frogs Gambling Prediction & Week 6 Preview

Cyclones vs Horned Frogs NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping

The Iowa State Cyclones and the No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs meet this week in what could be one of the more underrated games in all of college football this weekend. While neither team has played a top-quality opponent up to this point, both squads have boasted solid defenses. TCU currently holds the nation’s longest winning streak at 12 games running.

Iowa State Cyclones (3-1) vs No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs (4-0)
Saturday October 6, 2012
Amon Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX
3:30 PM ET
Moneyline: TCU -360, Iowa State +280 from BetOnline
Spread: TCU -10
O/U: 43

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Iowa State Cyclones

Coming off a 24-13 loss to Texas Tech last weekend, the Iowa State Cyclones head into week six with the TCU Horned Frogs leading off a tough two-game stretch—the Cyclones face off against No. 7 Kansas State Oct. 13.

Averaging just 24.3 points per game this season, Iowa State must score points against the Horned Frogs on Saturday. TCU boasts one of the top defenses in the nation, so quarterback Steele Jantz needs to do a better job of protecting the ball than he has thus far—he has seven interceptions on the season, while TCU picked off five passes last week.

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The Iowa State Cyclones haven’t been anything special on offense so far this season, but they’ve been a great defensive team allowing just 14 points per game.

The team is giving up just 68 yards per game on the ground when on the road, which is a great sign heading into Amon Carter Stadium.

The TCU Horned Frogs have struggled on the ground as of late, and Iowa State’s defense will look to cause the same troubles this week.

TCU Horned Frogs

The TCU Horned Frogs have been outstanding on defense this season. Knock them if you want for their strength of schedule, but having allowed just 7.3 points per contest thus far, the team from Texas Christian University has held opponents to the second-best point-per-game average in the entire country.

Offensively, they haven’t been spectacular. Senior running back Matthew Tucker has struggled in their last two games. He could very well have problems again against ISU’s tough run defense, but quarterback Casey Pachall should be there to keep the offense balanced.

He’s thrown for 948 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season with just one interception.

The Horned Frogs have a brutal stretch to conclude the season, including Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma in the final five weeks. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

While this week’s matchup isn’t the one that will shoot them back into the national spotlight, it will certainly help fine-tune and prepare them for what is coming once the end of October rolls around.

TCU’s defense shouldn’t have any trouble with ISU’s offense. The Cyclones’ have yet to truly establish a running game or a passing game, and as a result, they could struggle to put up points against one of the better defenses in all of college football.

Neither team produces a ton of scores, but TCU has posted 31.8 points per game, which is good enough for 47th in the country.

With the ability to throw the ball, the Horned Frogs should be able to attack the Cyclones’ defense early and often come Saturday, giving them the edge in week six.

Trends

• Under is 5-0 in Cyclones last 5 games after allowing less than 100 yards rushing in their previous game.
• Under is 6-1 in Cyclones last 7 conference games.
• Under is 5-1 in Cyclones last 6 games following a double-digit loss at home.
• Under is 13-3 in Cyclones last 16 games following a S.U. loss.
• Under is 4-0 in Horned Frogs last 4 games overall.
• Under is 4-0 in Horned Frogs last 4 games following a S.U. win.
• Under is 4-0 in Horned Frogs last 5 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game.

O/U Pick: Under 43
Score Prediction: TCU 21 – Iowa State 10