IOWA CITY, Iowa — A blueprint has emerged in many Cy-Hawk games, and Saturday’s edition at Kinnick Stadium followed it almost to every angle. Like in 2023, Iowa jumped out to a double-digit lead, Iowa State cut the deficit to a single score and had the ball late. Last year, the Cyclones were stopped on a fourth-down run.
This time, the Cyclones shredded that blueprint. Instead of following the script, Iowa State wrote a new story that includes a comeback victory. With five seconds left, Iowa State kicker Kyle Konrardy drilled a 54-yard field goal to lift the Cyclones (2-0) past the No. 21 Hawkeyes 20-19.
In a raucous environment, coupled with on-field adversity, Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said his team grew. But he added the season is bigger than just beating Iowa.
“This is hard,” Campbell said. “I’m going to just say this, respectfully: Our goal is not to win one game. I know I’ve been here for nine years, and I’m not trying to win one game. I’m trying to win them all. And the reality of it is, we haven’t won a championship here. We’re trying to create a championship mentality, and we’ve been damn close here, but we got a lot of work to do if we want to continue to be that team.”
The Hawkeyes (0-1) led 13-0 at halftime but blew a pair of first-and-goal situations and settled for field goals. In the second half, Iowa State capitalized on an interception and a blown coverage to score a pair of touchdowns. Then when it mattered most, Iowa State came through to snag the Cy-Hawk Trophy in Iowa City for the second consecutive trip.
Iowa had chances the put the game away. The Hawkeyes tried to run out the clock but failed and punted to the Cyclones with 34 seconds left. ISU took over at its 22-yard line and quarterback Rocco Becht completed a 10-yard out route to Jaylin Noel, then the combo followed with a 30-yard streak up the right sideline. Without any timeouts, Iowa State nearly lost the game after a 2-yard completion in bounds, but Becht spiked the ball with five seconds remaining to set up a field goal.
It was a shocking outcome for Iowa, which dominated the game throughout the first half. The Hawkeyes passed for just 27 yards in the final three quarters and quarterback Cade McNamara was 13-of-29 passing for 99 yards and two interceptions.
“I didn’t run another play on purpose, because I’ve seen him… He’s got a great leg.”@CycloneFB coach Matt Campbell tells @JennyDell_ he had all the faith in Kyle Konrardy to hit the 54-yarder pic.twitter.com/rvDiRfLd2I
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) September 7, 2024
ISU finds the answers in Iowa City
Outside of beating Iowa, Campbell had two major goals entering Saturday’s Cy-Hawk game. One was growth as a team. The other was to figure out how to play the Cyclones’ style of football in a hostile environment. They achieved both of those goals.
“Obviously, you’re going into a game that has a lot of hype around it from the outside,” Campbell said this week. “And the ability to block that out and the ability to understand that to win on the road, it’s going to be about those precision and detail moments. It’s going to be about playing our style of football. And can you do that against a really good opponent?”
Iowa State proved it could. The Cyclones could not have had a worse first half if they waited an extra hour at their Cedar Rapids hotel. They put up 101 yards of offense before halftime and advanced into Iowa territory only after a late roughing the punter penalty.
In the second half, everything flipped. An early interception led to a 75-yard drive that culminated with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Becht to Jayden Higgins. A possession later, Becht connected with Noel on a 75-yard touchdown strike in which the receiver blazed past Iowa’s safeties for the score.
Becht threw for 272 yards and did it without much of a running game. The Cyclones rushed for just 89 yards.
For a team with plenty of questions entering the game, ISU left with plenty of answers.
Hawkeyes offense bogs down
There’s very little positive Iowa can take away from this game. The play calling was atrocious in the red zone, and the passing game was dreadful after the first quarter. The defense gave up inexplicable big plays that changed the game’s dynamics. Twice in the first half the Hawkeyes had goal-to-go situations inside the 5-yard line but attempted multiple four-tight end plays that never got them into the end zone. They went away from what led them down the field and their drives stalled — and it ultimately cost them the victory.
After completing seven of his first eight passes, McNamara connected on just 6-of-21 attempts the rest of the game. The Hawkeyes need to evaluate this position fairly to see if McNamara truly is the right man to start.
If Iowa has a weapon on offense, it’s running back Kaleb Johnson. After sitting out the first half against Illinois State for a team rules violation, Johnson surpassed 100 yards in his first two halves of action. Last week, he rushed for 119 yards in the second half. Against Iowa State, he ran for 105 yards on nine carries in the first half.
Tall and thick (6 foot, 225 pounds), Johnson has sprinter’s speed and offensive coordinator Tim Lester has incorporated more sweeps and wide zone runs. Johnson scored on a 27-yard zone run over right tackle early in the first quarter. Then late in the second quarter, Johnson took sweeps to the right and rushed for 37 and 26 yards on consecutive plays. That drive led to a field goal.
Johnson finished with 187 yards and two touchdowns.
(Photo: Julia Hansen / Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA Today)
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Publish date : 2024-09-07 12:48:00
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