Stats file: Details on projected football starters for Iowa State against Drake

Iowa State's season indeed has a 12th game. And look, I won't oversell this one.

It's fun the Cyclones will play Drake. But by all accounts, this should be a giant Iowa State win. The Cyclones are a 42-point favorite.

How much will these projected starters play? We'll find out at 11 a.m. Saturday on Cyclones.TV.

Here's some more about them:

OFFENSE

Quarterback: No. 15, Brock Purdy (6-foot-1, 202 pounds, freshman) — Lost amid the two interceptions was a pretty efficient day for the freshman: 337 yards, and just five other incompletions (20-for-27). You've gotta wonder just how much he'll play, given that this is the perfect chance at a send-off for Kyle Kempt, who clearly has a special place in Matt Campbell's coaching heart.

Running back: No. 32, David Montgomery (5-11, 216, junior) — An above-and-beyond efficient game from David Montgomery at last! Nineteen carries, 149 yards (7.8 per rush). He's 53 yards from 1,000 for the season. I say he gets as many carries as he needs to pass that four-digit threshold, and then he takes a seat.

Fullback: No. 47, Sam Seonbuchner (6-3, 244, senior) — Awesome moment to see Seonbuchner get his first career touchdown last week. And it started that rally of 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points.

M receiver: No. 8, Deshaunte Jones (5-10, 185, Jr.) OR No. 14, Tarique Milton (5-11, 176, Fr.) — As much as I've rolled my eyes at split depth charts all season, the Jones/Milton designation here has made sense. Jones has 38 catches for 323 yards and three touchdowns. Milton has 31 grabs for 401 yards and a score this fall.

X receiver: No. 18, Hakeem Butler (6-6, 225, Jr.) — It was truly a joke that Butler didn't make the all-Big 12 Conference team this week. Last week (five catches, 144 yards) was another sign of just how important and talented the likely NFL Draft selection is.

Z receiver: No. 23, Matthew Eaton (6-4, 211, Sr.) — Expect Eaton to stay on the field more Saturday to provide whichever quarterback is in with a reliable presence. This should be another fine send-off.

Tight end: No. 88, Charlie Kolar (6-6, 250, Fr.) OR No. 11, Chase Allen (6-7, 240, sophomore) — A full fifth (four catches, 48 yards) of Purdy's completions went to the tight ends. Matt Campbell has stressed that this position groups has made strides, and it's become easier to see down the stretch.

Left tackle: No. 51, Julian Good-Jones (6-5, 296, Jr.)  

Left guard: No. 63, Collin Olson (6-1, 279, Jr.)  

Center: No. 57, Colin Newell (6-4, 292, Fr.)  

Right guard: No. 66, Josh Knipfel (6-5, 309, Jr.) 

Right tackle: No. 74, Bryce Meeker (6-6, 309, Jr.) 

The offensive line found its stride again against the Wildcats, as the Cyclones essentially rushed for 180 yards (I'm not counting the minus-23 for the bad snap). It should have another long-awaited field day against an overmatched squad this week.

DEFENSE

Defensive end: No. 3, JaQuan Bailey (6-2, 251, Jr.) — Speaking of field days, Bailey ought to tee off and have chances at his first full sack since the Texas Tech game in late October.

Defensive end: No. 89, Matt Leo (6-7, 276, Jr.) — The Iowa State defensive front four has had better months. Leo was picked on often by Kansas State, and the unit hasn't been the same since Enyi Uwazurike's injury.

Nose guard: No. 92, Jamahl Johnson (6-0, 295, Jr.) — Johnson disappeared last week, failing to dent the stat sheet in a clear regression from his otherwise-solid recent play.

Defensive tackle: No. 76, Ray Lima (6-3, 302, Jr.) — Seven tackles and a half-sack. One of Lima's best performances to date last week against the Wildcats.

Linebacker: No. 42, Marcel Spears Jr. (6-1, 215, Jr.) — Spears could get lost in the statistics from last week. He had two official hurries against Kansas State quarterback Skylar Thompson but caused more problems than the numbers would tell you.

Linebacker: No. 2, Willie Harvey (6-0, 224, Sr.) — Eight tackles, seven solo. Two sacks, and another hurry. Harvey's game of the season.

Linebacker: No. 23, Mike Rose (6-3, 228, Fr.) OR No. 34, O'Rien Vance (6-1, 235, Fr.) — The pair added even more tackles (Vance with 1.5 for loss), and Rose had the fumble recovery for a touchdown in the fourth-quarter rally. Buh-boom.

Star: No. 33, Braxton Lewis (5-11, 186, Jr.) — In the first three quarters, Kansas State was pretty smart with his conversions in the passing game. Thompson caught Lewis napping a couple of times on some deeper drag routes.

Free safety: No. 11, Lawrence White (6-0, 191, Soph.) — White really stepped up in the penetration behind the line of scrimmage in the fourth quarter. His seven-tackle game is representative of a step forward.

Strong safety: No. 12, Greg Eisworth (6-0, 198, Soph.) — Kansas States' mostly rush-heavy and calculated passing game strategy expectedly limited Eisworth's impact this past week. Just four tackles.

Left cornerback: No. 10, Brian Peavy (5-9, 194, Sr.) — Peavy's 10-tackle total is misleading, because he was surprisingly targeted often on Saturday night. Nonetheless, the comeback secured him an honor as one of two players (kicker Chris Francis is the other) to achieve a victory over every team currently in the Big 12 Conference.

Right cornerback: No. 1, D'Andre Payne (5-10, 188, Sr.) — Matt Campbell said Payne won't play this week but should be ready for the bowl. Datrone Young, the listed backup, has also been dinged up. Probably looking at more significant time once again for Anthony Johnson (four tackles and a pass breakup last week).

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker: No. 96, Connor Assalley (6-0, 191, So.) OR No. 91, Chris Francis (6-0, 182, Sr.) OR No. 90, Brayden Narvenson (6-0, 195, Fr.) — Assalley was a nice story to start the year, but he's regressed to a 14-for-20 clip this year. His 38-yard attempt in the second quarter was ugly.

Punter: No. 13, Corey Dunn (6-1, 203, Soph.) — Dunn didn't punt last week! That's all.

Punt returner: No. 14, Tarique Milton (5-11, 176, Fr.) OR No. 8, Deshaunte Jones (5-10, 185, Jr.) — Milton returned a couple kicks last week, but Kansas State scored 38 points. Not a lot of punting on either side in the instant Farmageddon classic.

Kick returner: No. 3, Kene Nwangwu (6-1, 206, Soph.) — We're expecting some game-breaking reads from Nwangwu, so it's odd to look at a fine day Saturday (21-yard return average on six chances) and be mildly disappointed. But there we are.

DRAKE PROJECTED STARTERS

OFFENSE

Quarterback: No. 15, Grant Kraemer (6-3, 228, Sr.)

S-back: No. 20, Drew Lauer (5-10, 196, Sr.)

Slot back: No. 1, Devin Cates (6-4, 243, Sr.)

Tight end: No. 87, Zach DeLeon (6-5, 255, Sr.)

X receiver: No. 22, Mitch McFarlane (6-3, 196, Jr.)

Z receiver: No. 81, Steve Doran (6-3, 216, Sr.)

Left tackle: No. 68, Jordan Lewinsky (6-5, 290, Sr.)

Left guard: No. 61, Isaiah Kent-Schneier (6-4, 284, Sr>0

Center: No. 62, Grant Snow (6-2, 270, Sr.)

Right guard: No. 57, Dustin Anthony (6-1, 295, Jr.)

Right tackle: No. 77, Jacob Bacon (6-6, 310, Jr.)

DEFENSE

Defensive end: No. 94, Jacob Hardy (6-3, 252, Jr.)

Defensive end: No. 47, Tyler Terveer (6-0, 230, Sr.)

Nose guard: No. 95, Gavin Dineen (6-3, 284, Jr.)

Defensive tackle: No. 46, Nathan Clayberg (6-4, 294, Sr.)

Will linebacker: No. 37, Connor Willis (6-2, 222, Sr.)

Mike linebacker: No. 54, Zac Rujawitz (6-1, 240, Sr.)

Sam linebacker: No. 34, Kieran Severa (6-0, 214, Sr.)

Cornerback: No. 15, Jabari Butler (5-10, 186, Sr.)

Cornerback: No. 5, Terry Wallen (5-11, 186, Sr.)

Free safety: No. 33, Sean Lynch (5-9, 181, Sr.)

Strong safety: No. 21, Will Warner (6-3, 201, Jr.)

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker: No. 99, Danny Donley (5-8, 154, Sr.)

Punter: No. 10, Ross Kennedy (5-9, 176, Jr.)

Kick returns: No. 18, Braeden Hartwig (5-11, 195, Soph.)

Punt returns: No. 5, Terry Wallen (5-11, 186, Sr.)