Cyclones Fall To Hawkeyes, 31-17

AMES, Iowa – Iowa scored a pair of touchdowns in the final three minutes of the game to defeat Iowa State, 31-17, Saturday afternoon in an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series showdown at Jack Trice Stadium in front of a sellout crowd of 61,500 fans. The Cyclones fall to 1-1 overall and Iowa improves to 2-0 this season.

The Hawkeyes took the lead with 2:14 left as C.J. Beathard tossed a 25-yard strike to Riley McCarron for the go-ahead score. Iowa outscored the Cyclones 21-0 in the second half.

Iowa got on the board first with 5:44 left in the first half as Marshall Koehn drilled a 49-yard field goal to put the Hawkeyes up 3-0. The Cyclones responded on the next drive with a 37-yarder off the foot of Cole Netten, tying the game at 3-3 heading into the second quarter.

Sam B. Richardson then connected with Quenton Bundrage on an 11-yard TD pass to put the Cyclones in front 10-3 with 13:12 left in the half. The lead stood until Beathard hit Tevaun Smith from 14 yards out, knotting it up at 10-10 with 4:24 left. Jauan Wesley made a nifty one-handed catch in the end zone that went for 29 yards as the Cyclones recaptured the lead with 2:19 left.

Iowa took advantage of a big play and a fortunate bounce to tie it up on the third quarter's only score. Beathard connected with Henry Krieger-Coble for a 29-yard gain before it was fumbled by the receiver. The ball bounced straight up into the hands of the Hawkeyes' Matt VandeBerg, who dove in from the three to tie the game at 17-17 with 10:05 left in the third quarter.

With just over 6:00 remaining, ISU punter Colin Downing punted it away to Desmond King, who returned it 34 yards to midfield. Seven plays later, Beathard hit McCarron for what proved to be the winning touchdown.

Richardson was intercepted on the next possession as King made his second big play in the quarter. Jordan Canzeri then tacked on another score, going up the middle from eight yards out to extend the Hawkeye lead to its final margin.

Keys of the Game...
King's punt return shifted the field position in favor of the Hawkeyes with just 2:14 left and made the difference for the visitors. King also had the game-clinching interception as the Cyclones attempted to make one last drive down the field.

Beathard had a number of big plays for Iowa, including runs of 44 and 57 yards. In total, Beathard rushed for 77 yards as Iowa outgained the Cyclones 260-63 on the ground.

Players of Note...
Richardson completed 19-of-35 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Lazard led the Cyclone receiving core with seven catches for 71 yards. Wesley returned to the lineup after missing the first game to finish with career highs of four receptions for 76 yards and the first touchdown grab of his career.

Defensively, Kamari Cotton-Moya led the way with nine tackles. Dale Pierson had two sacks in the game, running his season total to five. He had seven tackles in the contest. Jay Jones also had eight tackles, including a sack.

Cyclone Quick Hits
*Attendance was 61,500, the second consecutive sellout at the recently expanded Jack Trice Stadium.
*Sam B. Richardson eclipsed the 5,000-yard passing mark and 6,000 career yards of total offense. He tossed two touchdowns today giving him 41 in his career, which moves him past Todd Bandhauer (1995-98) for third in the ISU record books.
*Jay Jones and Dale Pierson have each recorded at least one sack in each of the first two games.
*Trever Ryen had a career-long 53-yard reception in the second quarter.

Next Up
Iowa State travels to Toledo next Saturday for a 7 p.m. (CT) kickoff. The game will be televised by ESPNews.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Quenton Bundrage

Kamari Cotton-Moya

Colin Downing

Cole Netten

Dale Pierson

Trever Ryen

Jauan Wesley

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics