Iowa State walked out of Kinnick Stadium with a 16-13 loss to rival Iowa on Saturday night, and first-year coach Jimmy Rogers made it clear afterward that the Cyclones came in expecting a battle and got exactly that.
Rogers opened by praising the Hawkeyes, calling them “Really well coached team” and noting that both sides knew this one would be tight from the start. But the frustration was obvious, too.
Iowa State had chances, and Rogers said the Cyclones left too much on the field in a game that “Took every bit of that game.” His message to the team afterward was simple: the result stings, but the season is far from over.
“We came here to win the game. We don't care about the spread or what the outside world thinks.
The guys believed it. Obviously, you can tell that they believed it.
And there were some critical errors in there that cost us that won't be probably seen as a game changing play, but we'll review the film and get better and get ready for another week."
Rogers pointed to a handful of moments that tilted the game, including a subbing mistake after Iowa State flipped the field, a long run that still ended in only a field goal, and missed tackles that added up over four quarters. He also mentioned self-inflicted penalties at key moments, including an offsides call on third-and-one and a false start in the same kind of spot.
“You can't give that team and that defense hidden yardage because they'll expose you,” Rogers said.
Offensively, Rogers said Iowa’s defense made life difficult and forced Iowa State into a rhythm it didn’t want. He said the Cyclones need to “continue to spread it out a little bit,” especially because there wasn’t much time to work against the Hawkeyes’ communication on the back end. He also felt Iowa State could have leaned on the pass more, particularly on first down, rather than falling into a pattern of running on first and throwing on second.
“There’s plenty of things that we’re going to look at and say we wish we would have,” Rogers said, while also reminding everyone that one loss doesn’t define a season with 10 games still to play.
Defensively, Rogers highlighted the one explosive play Iowa produced and said that’s not the standard Iowa State wants. He called the Iowa player involved “Great player” and said the Hawkeyes found him on a deep shot that beat the Cyclones’ corner.
Rogers also noted that Seth (Johnson) answered back after that moment and “got his head back on, made a bunch of plays.”
In the end, the tone from Rogers was blunt but steady: Iowa State believes it can win, but belief alone isn’t enough. The Cyclones have work to do, and he said they’ll keep grinding toward next week.
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