AMES — It seemed as though all the hopes and dreams of a Big 12 championship and chance to play for a national title was officially slipping away on Saturday night.
The Cyclones had given up a touchdown on the opening drive of the game, were being outgained by over 100 yards and were struggling to get their footing gaining just 24 yards on the ground on 13 carries. If not for a 28-yard punt return by Jaylin Noel and a bad snap that led to an 18-yard punt by Mason Fletcher that helped flip field position in the first half, Iowa State may very well have trailed at halftime for the fourth consecutive game.
Instead, Iowa State was able to catch Cincinnati on Saturday night at Jack Trice Stadium, entering halftime tied at 10-10 with the Bearcats despite having to deal with all the same struggles in the first half that had plagued the Cyclones in consecutive losses over the past two weeks. Fortunate or not, Iowa State capitalized in the second half pulling away for a much-needed 34-17 win that keeps the Cyclones within a game of the lead in the Big 12 conference with two weeks left in the regular season.
“I keep saying this. It’s the story. We just keep coming,” Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell said. “The guys just keep fighting to meet the standard of excellence that the program’s about. Guys have to keep stepping up in critical situations and they keep doing it.”
Never more so than on Saturday as Iowa State faced the potential of a third straight loss completely derailing their championship hopes. Cincinnati took the opening possession down the field, converting on fourth-and-short in their own territory to extend the drive before scoring the game’s first points on a 12-yard touchdown run by Evan Pryor, giving the Bearcats a 7-0 lead.
“They (Iowa State) were dropping eight all day. They did not pressure us. They just dropped eight and kept everything in front,” Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield said. “That’s why we’re able to run the football. (Brendan) Sorsby had a great night rushing. Corey (Kiner) ran hard again.”
Sorsby and Kiner combined for 268 rushing yards for the Bearcats on 32 combined carries, helping Cincinnati (5-5, 3-4 Big 12) grab and maintain the lead for most of the first half. Noel’s 28-yard punt return set up Iowa State at the Cincinnati 39, leading to Carson Hansen’s two-yard touchdown run following a 32-yard pass from Rocco Becht to Gabe Burkle, tying the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter.
“I think, obviously, we did some good things, but we also did some bad things,” Satterfield said. “I think we’ve got to learn how to finish as a program. You can’t play well for 54 minutes. You have to play well for 60 minutes. I mean, you can’t relax. You can’t give in.”
Cincinnati was able to regain the lead on a 29-yard field goal by Nathan Hawks. Mistakes by the Bearcats, however, cost Cincinnati a chance to extend drives in the second quarter including a bad snap on a punt with 45 seconds left in the first half that led to a short punt by Fletcher, setting up Iowa State at the Bearcat 38 leading to a game-tying 37-yard field goal by Kyle Konrardy with eight seconds left in the half tying the score at 10-10.
“We talked about having poise and patience all week,” Satterfield said. “Part of having poise is being able to sit in there and wait for the cadence. We go on the clap, and you have to wait for it, and you can’t jump early, you can’t flinch, and it’s very aggravating.”
After managing just 114 yards of total offense in the first half, Iowa State gained 76 yards on their first nine plays of the second half. Stevo Klotz caught a tiebreaking 26-yard touchdown pass from Becht to complete the opening drive of the third quarter, giving Iowa State it’s first lead in over six quarters.
“It’s Stevo … that guy, what a game he had, you know? He was incredible for us,” Campbell said. “You watch Gabe, who that guy has played good football, and he’s waiting for his moment, and he had some critical plays. It’s just so great to see. To see him and Stevo step in and have, obviously, some critical catches.”
Klotz saved his biggest play for Iowa State’s next possession. Facing a fourth down on its own 42, Klotz took a direct snap on a fake punt and dashed 22 yards down the field to extend a drive that ended with a 52-yard field goal by Konrardy, giving Iowa State a 20-10 lead late in the third quarter.
“We’ve had that (fake punt) in our back pocket here for the last couple of weeks and have been waiting for the right opportunity and just executed it,” Campbell said. “What Stevo would tell you is it’s the other 10 guys that execute. A couple of big blocks on the left side of that punt team, and they really did a great job. Just really proud of them. It was a big play in a critical moment for sure.”
Cincinnati was able to get back in the game after recoving a fumble by Hansen early in the fourth quarter, leading to a 41-yard touchdown run by Sorsby four plays later. Iowa State answered back, converting another fourth down on a quarterback sneak by Becht before finding Brett Eskidsen and Higgins on third down passes.
Finally, facing another third down with 4:09 left, Becht took a high shotgun snap and dashed past the Cincinnati defense for a 15-yard touchdown run, giving Iowa State a 27-17 lead. Becht added a 32-yard run on the next possession, setting up a game-clinching 27-yard touchdown run by Abu Sama with 1:14 to go.
“I feel like we’ve been in some really good rhythm at times,” Campbell said. “I thought we were the best finishers that we’ve been through the last couple of weeks. We did a great job early. We had done a great job driving the football, but we hadn’t been elite finishers. I thought we did a great job of that.”
Iowa State, now 8-2 on the season and 5-2 in the Big 12, is now just one game out of the conference lead now shared by sixth-ranked BYU and 17th-ranked Colorado. Kansas, coming off last Saturday’s 45-36 win over the Cyclones at Arrowhead Stadium, handed BYU its first loss of the season on Saturday night upsetting the Cougars 17-13 in Provo.
Kansas hosts Colorado on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium while BYU heads to Arizona State, who is now tied with the Cyclones at 5-2 in the Big 12 one game behind BYU and Colorado’s 6-1 conference records. Iowa State heads to Utah on Saturday night hoping to move into a share of either first or second place in the conference giving the Cyclones a chance to win their way into the Big 12 title game the following week at home in the regular-season finale against Kansas State.
“You’re going to have to earn it. They’re going to battle down the field,” Campbell said. “To watch our guys do that and stick in there and do those things really well was awesome to see.”
