Three Reasons Iowa State Football Could Upset Arizona

As a Chicago Bears fan, the phrase "Bear Down" is almost engraved in my mind, especially now that Ben Johnson has turned this once-struggling franchise into a contender in a year and a half. 

The Bears have existed for over a century now, but I recently discovered a few years ago that they aren't the only team that shares the "Bear Down" chant. That belongs to the Arizona Wildcats, who for some reason also say "Bear Down" even though they are the Wildcats. I'm sure there's a good reason for it, but until someone fills me in on it, I'm going to be scratching my head. 

Jokes aside, the reason why I bring that up is because your Iowa State Cyclones are taking on No. 25 Arizona on Saturday night at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Tucson. The Wildcats are heavily favored to win this one, but if you've watched a Jimmy Rogers-coached team over the course of the last six games, you know that anything is possible in the desert. 

Here are three reasons why the Cyclones can pull off the shocker on Saturday. 

Asking Jaylen Raynor to magically find Noah Fifita-type accuracy (Fifita is 73.3% on the season for Arizona) is ridiculous, but one can only imagine that Rogers and offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl have really emphasized working on Raynor's average accuracy (57.4%) over the bye week. It's going to be a challenge for Iowa State's quarterback as he goes on the road against an Arizona team clicking on all cylinders, but this offense needs just an above-average Raynor to have a chance. Roehl needs to get his young quarterback comfortable with some easy throws early, but after that, it's all up to Raynor to make clutch throws. You can't put the entire offense on Aiden Flora again. 

Speaking of Flora, there are going to be times in this football game where the passing game gets stuck in the mud. That's going to leave the brunt of the offensive success on Flora, but if you've watched him this year, you know he's capable of it. The former walk-on made some incredible plays to give Iowa State even the slightest chance against BYU two weeks ago and there's a chance it can always happen again against Arizona. If you're a Wildcat fan reading this, take a few moments to watch some Flora highlights before kickoff and send them to Brent Brennan. 

Look, Arizona is going to move the football in this one. That's simply inevitable considering how well Fifita and this offense are playing right now. The Wildcats have averaged around 40 points per game over the course of their current four-game winning streak, including a 52-point outburst at West Virginia last time out. Iowa State's banged-up secondary is going to have a tough time dealing with Arizona's passing attack, but one thing that it can do is get stops in the red zone. Limiting the Wildcats to field goals instead of touchdowns for as long as possible will help this offense stay in this game. The Cyclones need a slugfest to have a chance.