Coming off their best season in school history, Iowa State football had a chance to make an immediate statement in 2025 by facing their conference rivals in the annual Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland. The Cyclones defeated Kansas State 29-21 in Ames to clinch a spot in the Big 12 Championship, and began 2025 with a 24-21 win over their ag school rivals.
The day started with cavalcade of turnovers as Kansas State muffed the first punt of the game, setting up Iowa State inside the Wildcats 10, but with the ball on the 1-yard line, Abu Sama couldn’t handle a pitch from Rocco Becht as Kansas State recovered the football.
Iowa State would be first on the board late in the first quarter with Becht finding Dominic Overby for a 23-yard touchdown pass to put the Cyclones ahead 7-0. Kansas State answered with a ground-heavy drive, as quarterback Avery Johnson scored on a zone read keep from 10 yards out to tie the game at 7-7.
Mother Nature continued to rear the ugly side of her head, as rain gaveway to a strip sack of Rocco Becht from K-State DB Qua Moss, but K-State would give it back 2 possessions laters as RB Joe Jackson had the football punched out by Cyclone safety Drew Sturges and recovered by Ta’Shawn James. The Cyclones would get the ball into range for kicker Kyle Konrardy, but poor field conditions did not allow for the Dubuque-native to sink a 50-yard field goal, as the game went to halftime 7-7.
After a pair of punts and a Kansas State turnover on downs, Iowa State put together the first score of the second half on an 11-play, 67-yard drive as Rocco Becht found Brett Eskilden for a 24-yard touchdown pass to put the Cyclones up 14-7. However, Kansas State answered with a 5-play drive that ended with an Avery Johnson bomb to Jayce Brown on a 37-yard pass to tie the game at 14-14. Iowa State’s offense continued their energized play in the 2nd half, as a Carson Hansen-heavy drive resulted in a Kyle Konrardy 34-yard field goal to put ISU up 17-14.
The ensuing K-State drive led to the most talked about portion of the game, as Wildcats coach and Waterloo-native Chris Klieman elected to go for it on 4th and 1 at his own 30, as former Ankeny and Des Moines Roosevelt standout Jamison Patton stuffed Avery Johnson short of the line to gain to give the Cyclones the ball back. Rocco Becht capped off the short drive with a 7-yard run to put Iowa State ahead 24-14. Kansas State did not go quietly, as a busted coverage allowed Avery Johnson to find Jerand Bradley for a 75-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 24-21.
Iowa State would then drain the final 6:30 of the game, as the game’s deciding play was a 4th and 3 at the Kansas State 16, Matt Campbell pushed all his chips to the table and won as Rocco Becht beat the Kansas State blitz with a flip out to Carsen Hanson to the 1-yard line, as the Cyclones kneeled out the clock for a 24-21 victory.
Iowa State opens the season 1-0 and 1-0 in the Big 12 and opens their home slate on Saturday, August 30th by hosting (FCS) #4 South Dakota at Jack Trice Stadium at 2:30 PM.