Big 12 Football: Cheez-It Preview - Iowa State vs. Clemson

Seven of the Big 12 teams will play in a bowl game this season. Preview the matchup between Iowa State vs. Clemson

© Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Bowl season starts this week. This year, 84 teams were bowl eligible, and all of them will play in a bowl game between December 17 and January 4. The Big 12 Conference had seven teams qualify.

Two of those teams will play in one of the NY6 Bowls. As Big 12 champs, #7 Baylor will play #8 Ole Miss in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on January 1. #9 Oklahoma State will play #5 Notre Dame in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl on January 1.

Other teams to make a bowl include Iowa State (Cheez-It Bowl, December 29 vs. Clemson), Kansas State (TaxAct Texas Bowl, January 4 vs. LSU), Oklahoma (Valero Alamo Bowl, December 29 vs. Oregon), Texas Tech (AutoZone Liberty Bowl, December 28 vs. Mississippi State), and West Virginia (Guaranteed Rate Bowl, December 28 vs. Minnesota).

This article previews the Cheez-It Bowl.

Cheez-It Bowl: Iowa State (7-5) vs. #19 Clemson (9-3)

Wednesday, December 29, [FuboTV 4:45 p.m. CT, ESPN]

Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida

Line: Iowa State -1.5; over/under – 45.5

Both of these teams had great expectations when the season first began. Iowa State was looking to capitalize upon their 2020 appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game. They started the season ranked in the Top 10 with hopes of moving up from there. Clemson, a perennial College Football Playoff team, was moving forward after Trevor Lawrence was the number one draft pick in the NFL this year.

Clemson started the season hoping to make a big statement with a game in Charlotte against Georgia. The Dawgs won that game and ended up in the CFP. Clemson lost and didn’t make it to the CFP after being in the playoffs the last six seasons. Iowa State also had an early-season loss, losing to in-state rival Iowa in the CyHawk game in Week 2.

This will be the first time the two programs have met. This particular bowl game has been in existence since 1990, and it’s the second year with Cheez-It as the sponsor. Since 2014, the matchup has been the second pick after the CFP/NY6 bowls from the ACC and the third pick from the Big 12. Clemson is 2-1 in this bowl, having last appeared in 2014 with a win over Oklahoma. Iowa State has appeared once, a 2019 loss to Notre Dame.

Iowa State finished 7-5 and 5-4 in Big 12 play, which placed them fourth in the conference. Their wins included Northern Iowa, UNLV, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, and TCU. They also had a huge home win over then #8 Oklahoma State, which kept the Pokes out of the CFP conversation until Championship Week. The Cyclones' five losses were to Iowa, Baylor, West Virginia, Texas Tech (thanks to Tech's incredible 62-yard field goal as time expired), and Oklahoma.

Clemson, after losing to Georgia in Week One, beat South Carolina State and Georgia Tech. They then lost their first ACC game to NC State to start the season 2-2 and already out of the CFP conversation. Their additional wins included Boston College, Syracuse, Florida State, Louisville, UConn, then ranked #10 Wake Forest and South Carolina. They had a mid-season loss to Pittsburgh. They finished 9-3 and 6-2 in ACC play, which placed them second in the ACC Atlantic Division and third overall in the ACC.

Team Stats Per Game	Iowa State	Clemson
Points Per Game	32.8	26.8
Points Allowed Per Game	20.6	15.0
Total Yards	437.4	362.8
Yards Passing	268.8	191.5
Yards Rushing	168.6	171.3
Yards Allowed	310.1	308.4
Pass Yards Allowed	187.8	209.3
Rush Yards Allowed	122.3	99.2

Season Leaders

Passing Yards

Iowa State – Brock Purdy – 269-368, 2,984 yards, 18 touchdowns, seven interceptions

Clemson – DJ Uilgalelei – 187-342, 2,059 yards, nine touchdowns, nine interceptions

Rushing Yards

Iowa State – Breece Hall - 253 carries, 1,472 yards, 20 touchdowns

Clemson – Will Shipley - 131 carries, 678 yards, ten touchdowns

Receiving Yards

Iowa State – Xavier Hutchinson - 82 receptions, 953 yards, five touchdowns

Clemson – Justyn Ross - 46 receptions, 514 yards, three touchdowns

The pick: Iowa State 27-17

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