Rocco Becht completed 20 of 26 passes for 267 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Higgins and Jaylin Noel in 21-3 win
Iowa State Cyclones defensive back Malik Verdon (7) and Iowa State Cyclones defensive back Jontez Williams (3) pull down North Dakota Fighting Hawks running back Gaven Ziebarth (28) as he carries the ball in the first quarter at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
AMES — Thirty-eight seconds.
That’s how long it took Iowa State to score a touchdown on its season-opening drive Saturday against North Dakota.
Cyclones fans rejoiced, expecting the nearly 30-point blowout Las Vegas oddsmakers predicted to be swiftly afoot.
But soon they were sulking. The Fighting Hawks responded by putting together an astonishing 23-play, 88-yard drive that spanned 12 minutes and 24 seconds and resulted in a field goal. ISU — down star linebacker Caleb Bacon, who was injured on special teams — still won comfortably, 21-3, but the defense struggled to get off the field all day as a perplexed crowd of 56,148 looked on at Jack Trice Stadium.
“I thought we played really good football,” said Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell, whose team won its fourth consecutive season opener. “There (are) some things in the first game you want to clean up. We want to be a little bit better on third down on the defensive side of the football. We had a couple penalties in the red zone that maybe (prevented) a chance to score, but I thought all in all, with all the things that were kind of against us today, with some of the injuries, I thought some kids stepped up.”
Bacon suffered an apparent leg injury while helping in punt coverage early in the game. He did not return and was eventually carted off to the locker room.
“We’ll know more tomorrow,” Campbell said. “Obviously, we’re hoping it’s not significant. I don’t that it is or is not right now, but we’ve got a laundry list of guys coming out of (fall) camp that just had bumps and bruises, dinged up.”
That list included offensive linemen Jalen Travis and Deylin Haysert, and linebackers Cael Brezina and Will McLaughlin, so ISU needed to drill down the depth chart at those positions.
“I think what I’m most excited about is the amount of guys that stepped up and I thought played pretty good football,” Campbell said.
ISU quarterback Rocco Becht completed 20 of 26 passes for 267 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Higgins and Jaylin Noel. He averaged 13.4 yards per completion and has now thrown 12 touchdowns to just one interception in his last five games dating back to last season.
“I feel like there were some throws, accuracy-wise, that I want back,” Becht said. “And just knowing when it’s man and where my players are, where my stars are — just giving them the ball and letting them, you know, play.”
Noel finished with a game-high eight catches for 135 yards and the touchdown and notched the fourth 100-yard-plus game of his four-year career.
“Just (Becht’s) poise out there kept the whole offense poised,” Noel said. “(He made) sure we made timely plays. Some drives didn’t end how wanted them to, but he was still on the sideline making sure guys were good and ready to go.”
The Cyclones led, 14-3, at halftime despite allowing the Fighting Hawks to convert on 11 of their first 15 third-down situations. That’s a number — along with allowing 174 yards on the ground — that must be dramatically improved immediately, as ISU enters Cy-Hawk rivalry week in advance of next Saturday’s game at No. 25 Iowa.
“I think we need to win the rushing game,” said safety Beau Freyler, who snared an interception. “We gave them a little too much, so they had some easier third-down situations.”
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Publish date : 2024-08-31 13:02:00
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