Iowa State left Kinnick with plenty to like about the way it showed up, but not enough offense to finish the job.
The No. 21-ranked Hawkeyes edged the Cyclones 16-13 in the Cy-Hawk game on Sept. 12, getting a 42-yard game-winning field goal from Caden Buhr with 15 seconds left. It was a tight, physical game from start to finish, and Iowa State spent most of it proving it could hang with a ranked opponent on the road.
That was especially true early. After a scoreless first quarter, the Cyclones punched first and built a 10-0 lead. Kyle Konrardy got Iowa State on the board with a field goal, then Vince Benetti capped the first touchdown of the game by lunging into the end zone on a four-yard reception from Jaylen Raynor.
Iowa answered before halftime. Hank Brown scored on a keeper, and Buhr added a field goal to tie it 10-10 at the break.
From there, the game tightened into a field-goal contest, and Iowa eventually had the last word.
For Iowa State, the opening stretch was one of the clearest positives. The Cyclones played with energy on both sides of the ball for the first 23-25 minutes, disrupted Iowa’s rhythm and helped keep the Kinnick crowd out of it while building the early cushion. A couple of three-and-outs and a fourth-down stop were part of that surge.
The defense, in particular, gave Iowa State a real chance. The Hawkeyes finished with just 93 rushing yards on 29 carries, a sharp drop from the 289 yards Kamari Moulton and company piled up in a shutout win over Northern Illinois.
Moulton was held to 57 yards on 15 carries. Iowa State didn’t make things easy at the line of scrimmage and stayed in the fight all game long.
That defensive effort also fit what Jimmy Rogers and Jesse Bobbit seem to be building. The Cyclones played with urgency, limited the big plays and looked like a team that can stay competitive when the odds are against it.
There were other encouraging signs, too. Omari Hayes gave a glimpse of what he can bring to the passing game, finishing with a team-high three catches for 39 yards.
His 28-yard grab helped set up a scoring drive, and he also added a 15-yard rush on a reverse. Kyle Konrardy kept doing his job, drilling both of his field goal attempts and all of his extra points.
His 51-yarder was clean and had plenty behind it.
Iowa State also won the time of possession battle, a stat Tyler Roehl calls “time of physicality,” and the turnover column stayed clean. Jaylen Raynor went 10-of-19 for 117 yards and a touchdown without a pick, and the backs didn’t put the ball on the ground.
The offensive line had a workable day, too. Iowa State didn’t give up a sack, and Iowa managed only two tackles for loss. The Cyclones were charged with just one holding penalty on the line, on Braden Smith early in the third quarter.
Still, the second half told the real story. Iowa State managed only four first downs after the break and went three-and-out on three of its last four possessions before the final drive. In all, the Cyclones were three-and-out on six of their 10 possessions, and the offense never found enough rhythm to match what the defense had done.
The end of the first half hurt, too. Iowa State had built that 10-0 lead, but the Hawkeyes quickly erased it before the break and carried the momentum into the second half.
Tony Diaz was a problem for the Cyclones as well, especially early. He sparked Iowa’s first two scoring drives before Iowa State did a better job of limiting him after halftime.
And then there were the injuries. Wide receiver Evan Boyd left late in the first quarter after a six-yard catch with a left knee injury and did not return. In the second half, safety Drew Surges, cornerback Beni Ngoyi and defensive lineman Jack Janikowski also went down.
In the end, Iowa State had enough to make this rivalry game interesting. Just not enough to close it out.
In Other News...
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 🡒]
Iowa State Just Gave Fans A Real Reason To Believe
Under new head coach Jimmy Rogers, Iowa State spent the offseason piecing together a roster with plenty of transfer-portal additions and not much outside belief attached to it. The early results have at least given the program something sturdier to stand on. After opening with a comfortable win over Southeast Missouri, the Cyclones followed by taking a ranked Iowa team deep into a rivalry game and showing they can handle the level of intensity that usually exposes a team this early in a new era.
For a fan base that wanted more than a rebuilding label, the encouraging part is not just the record, but the way Iowa State has looked competitive against better competition. The loss to the 21st-ranked Hawkeyes still leaves questions, of course, but it also suggested the Cyclones are not going to be an easy out while Rogers sorts out the rest of the roster. The bigger test now is whether that early hint of promise can turn into something more consistent once the schedule starts demanding it week after week. [Read more 🡒]