Iowa State didn’t leave the Cy-Hawk game with the win, but it did leave a message.
For a team that entered Week 2 as a heavy underdog and spent the offseason reworking its roster, the Cyclones showed they’re not going to be an easy out. Against No. 21 Iowa on Saturday night, Iowa State matched the tone of the rivalry and made the Hawkeyes work for everything.
That kind of showing matters for a program that had to start over in a lot of places. Iowa State lost nearly all of its players and rebuilt through the transfer portal, leaving plenty of questions about how quickly a new group could come together. Jimmy Rogers inherited a major project in his first season as head coach, but the early returns suggest the staff found the right pieces to make this team functional fast.
The opener against Southeast Missouri offered the first hint of what this group might be. The Cyclones won comfortably, and the biggest takeaway was that the defense looked like the foundation. That theme carried straight into the Cy-Hawk matchup.
Iowa State’s defense did exactly what it needed to do against an Iowa offense that wants to lean on the run and build from there. The Cyclones shut down the Hawkeyes’ ground game for much of the night, which threw off the rhythm of an offense built to create balance through play-action passing.
That’s what made the game feel like one of those classic low-scoring, grind-it-out battles these teams are known for. Iowa State was right there in it deep into the night.
In the end, Iowa found a way to rally and take the win after Iowa State’s offense stalled in the second half. But the result didn’t erase what the Cyclones showed for most of the game.
They were supposed to be outmatched. Instead, they went toe-to-toe with a ranked opponent and proved they can compete.
As conference play approaches, that’s the real takeaway for Iowa State. The Cyclones have already shown they can hang with a Top 25 team, and that gives this season a different kind of look than many expected a few weeks ago.
In Other News...
Iowa State Showed Something In Cy-Hawk Loss That Fans Will Debate
Iowa State left the Cy-Hawk matchup with plenty to argue about after taking an early 10-0 lead and then watching No. 21 Iowa claw back to a 16-13 win. The Cyclones did enough in spots to keep the game tight, and their defense had real positives to hang onto, especially with Iowa's rushing attack held to 93 yards.
Still, the second half told a different story for Iowa State's offense, which could not sustain drives once the game tightened up and let the momentum swing away. The result will linger because the Cyclones showed they could control stretches of the rivalry game, but they also left enough unfinished business for fans to wonder what this performance says about how far the offense can carry them when the margin gets thin. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Let A Statement Cy-Hawk Win Slip Away Late
Iowa State had the kind of early edge that can make a Cy-Hawk win feel like it is already taking shape, building a 10-0 lead and leaning on a defense that had Iowa scrambling to find a rhythm. But the game never fully loosened for the Cyclones, as the Hawkeyes kept answering enough to stay in striking distance and turn a rivalry day that looked promising into a tense, possession-by-possession fight down the stretch.
Iowas rally kept the pressure on Iowa State until the final moments, with the Hawkeyes tying the game twice before the finishing kick settled it late. For the Cyclones, it was a missed chance to keep their recent run of dramatic rivalry victories going after they had taken the previous two meetings on late field goals, a reminder that in this series even a solid start can disappear fast when the game reaches its sharpest edge. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Let Another Rivalry Gut Punch Slip Away Late
Iowa State spent much of the afternoon in a grinder of a rivalry game that felt exactly like one of those meetings where every yard has to be earned. No. 21 Iowa had to dig out of a 10-point hole to pull level, and both sidelines came away talking about how physical and competitive the matchup was, which only fit the tone of a matchup that never offered much margin for error.
The part that will sting the Cyclones is how close they were to forcing the issue late before the game slipped away in the final moments. A single defensive stand or one cleaner sequence at the end could have changed the entire conversation, but instead Iowa left with the kind of gut punch that lingers in a rivalry and sends Iowa State back to the film room wondering how a tightly contested afternoon turned so quickly. [Read more 🡒]