AMES — Jet-lag was nowhere to be found in Ames on Saturday as #22 Iowa State took care of business over (FCS) #4 South Dakota 55-7 in the Cyclones home opener on Saturday.
Iowa State started things with a pop on Saturday as OC Taylor Mouser dialed up a deep shot with Rocco Becht finding receiver Brett Eskildsen for a 66-yard pass on the games first play, as 3 plays later Becht hooked up with tight end Ben Brahmer for a 4-yard score to give the Cyclones an initial 7-0 lead. South Dakota would answer, driving 75 yards in 12 plays and scoring a 6-yard pass from former Cyclone quarterback Aidan Bouman to Larenzo Fenner to tie the game at 7-7.
After vanilla playcalling of years past in home openers, the Cyclone offense flipped the script and kept the pressure on the Coyotes through the air, as the Cyclones ensuing drive saw Abu Sama score on a 15-yard touchdown run out of a Wildcat package to put Iowa State ahead 14-7. South Dakota would drive the field again in their next drive, but a forced throw by Aidan Bouman resulted in a tip and interception by Ankeny-grad Jamison Patton. That pick would lead to Becht’s 2nd touchdown pass of the day, this time on a goal-line fade to Ben Brahmer as the Cyclones led 21-7.
Iowa State’s offense would continue to hum along, as Kyle Konrardy connected on a 35-yard field goal with 2:35 to go in the 1st half, and as time expired in the first half, Konrardy wowed the crowd and many others by connecting on a school-record 63-yard field goal to give the Cyclones a 27-7 lead. Konrardy’s kick stands as the 2nd-longest kick in Big 12 history, only behind former Kansas State and NFL kicker Martin Gramatica, who kicked a 65-yarder for the Wildcats in 1998.
Cyclones special teams continued to electrify in the 2nd half, as Aiden Flora was a pinky toe away from a 99-yard punt return for a touchdown, but was ruled out of bounds on review. The Cyclones would score 4 plays later on as Rocco Becht hit Gabe Burkle on a crossing pattern for a 16-yard score to put the Cyclones ahead 34-7. Flora had another electrifying return on a 51-yard return to set up Xavier Townsend’s first touchdown as a Cyclone to put Iowa State ahead 41-7. Reserves would play out the rest of the way for the Cyclones in the 55-7 win.
Rocco Becht put on a clinic for the Cyclones, going 19-20 for 278 yards and 3 touchdowns, as his 95% completion percentage broke an Iowa State school record held by Seneca Wallace, who set the previous mark against Baylor in 2001. Gabe Burkle led the Cyclone receivers, hauling 4 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown, as Iowa State top 3 tight ends totaled 13 receptions for 165 yards and all 3 touchdowns receptions.
Iowa State improves to 2-0 as they host Iowa for the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series on Saturday, September 6th with kickoff at 11 AM.