The Kansas Jayhawks and the Iowa State Cyclones battle it out on Saturday in Big 12 college football action.

The Kansas Jayhawks are improving and while it hasn’t led to wins they are competing closely each week against teams who are much further along than they are. Michael Cummings has completed just 44.9 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and four interceptions and he has also run for a touchdown. James Sims is averaging 4.9 yards per carry with eight touchdowns, Tony Pierson is averaging 6.4 yards per carry with three touchdowns, and Taylor Cox is averaging 5.4 yards per carry with two touchdowns. Kale Pick leads KU with 23 receptions, Daymond Patterson has 19 catches, and Andrew Turzilli has 16 catches. The Kansas Defense allows 32.3 points per game, 183 rushing yards, and 275.7 passing yards with 10 interceptions and nine sacks. Ben Heeney has 91 tackles, Bradley McDougald has 76 tackles, and Greg Brown has 63 tackles. Kansas  can only hope the progress they see today turn to victories in the future.

The Iowa State Cyclones are a win away from being bowl eligible but they have been at this point for two prior games and couldn’t get over the hump. Steele Jantz has completed 62.3 percent of his passes with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while rushing for a touchdown. Shontrelle Johnson is averaging 4.4 yards per carry with two touchdowns and James White is averaging 5.1 yards per carry with two touchdowns. Aaron Horn leads ISU with 36 catches and two touchdowns, Chris Young has 31 catches and two touchdowns, and Jarvis West has 25 catches and three touchdowns. Defensively Iowa State allows 22.6 points per game, 149.1 rushing yards, and 293.1 passing yards with 12 interceptions and 14 sacks. Jake Knott has 79 tackles, A.J. Klein has 78 tackles, and Durrell Givens has 73 tackles. At times Iowa State looks ready to take the jump  to the next level but thus far they have been unable to actually take that leap.

Kansas is 5-2 against the spread in their last seven home games, 0-3-1 against the spread following a game which the covered the spread, and 5-0 against the spread after allowing more than 40 points in their previous game. Iowa State is 5-2 against the spread in their last seven road games, 1-3-1 against the spread in their last five Big 12 games, and 0-4 against the spread against a team with a losing record. The underdog has covered four in a row in this series.

This should be a close game and with the home team being a nice dog here the play is taking the points.