The 2021 Fiesta Bowl has all the makings of a great game between an Oregon (4-2) program familiar with playing in big New Year’s games, and a physical, well-coached No. 10 Iowa State (8-3) team making their programs’ first January appearance.

Offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead and the Duck staff will have their hands full with a Cyclone defense that presents some unique challenges.

In his fifth season as defensive coordinator at Iowa State, Jon Heacock has fine-tuned a base odd front defense with three linebackers stacked behind, five on the back end. Looking at it from still shots pre-snap, it appears light in the box.

It is not.

The Cyclones have held their 11 opponents to an average of 3.2 yards per rushing attempt, in no small part due to their 78 tackles for loss. They are clever with their pressures, angles and coverages, and make it difficult to get good pre-snap reads for the offensive lines.

“Iowa State presents a very unique challenge on defense with their odd stack front, a variety of coverage, looks and disguises,” said Moorhead three days prior to kickoff. “They bring pressure from all different angles and they have done a great job there.”

Something must give. Teams have scored an average of about 22 points per game on the Cyclones while the Ducks are accustomed to scoring closer to 34. And Oregon expects two more yards per carry than Iowa State’s prior opponents.

Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal explained the challenge in front his team.

“They strike blockers,” said Cristobal. “They cover you. They've got great eye discipline. You don't see them in getting caught with poor eye discipline and giving up few explosive plays. When they strike, they get there with intention to make you feel that they're a physical football team.”

In order to win this game, like all games, the Ducks will have to figure out how to make sure the Iowa State defense is blocked. That is the unique challenge facing the offense on Saturday, so Moorhead is making sure his guys recognize who their man is.

“It is identification,” said Moorhead of this week’s blocking keys. “On first and second down they align in an odd front. With a zero nose, two five techniques, two inside linebackers. The challenge is the location of the linebackers and the safeties.

“They do play with the three-safety look so the identification of who’s who and who is where, where you are zoning to or who the point is in protection, those are the things that present the most unique challenge, the variety of looks they are able to present.”

The game kicks off Saturday at 1 pm PST. For Oregon, underdogs for only the second time this season, playing a top ten ranked team on New Year’s Day is a chance to kick off 2021 right.

“It will be a huge challenge,” summarized Moorhead. “We are excited for it.”