TCU at Iowa State Recap: An Inexplicable Mess

The nightmare season continues for the Cyclones today as they played their way into a lead in the final minute of the game, but still ended up with another crushing defeat. Iowa State once again looked listless other than a few series, and other than a huge kickoff return touchdown by DeVondrick Nealy in which he broke a pair of tackles, there was little explosiveness from the Cyclones. The fact that Kirby Van Der Kamp's 25 yard completion on a fake punt was the highlight of the passing game says it all for Courtney Messingham's offense.

The quarterback shuffling continued again today, with Grant Rohach getting the majority of the reps, going 18-39 for just 148 yards in an uninspiring performance. Sam Richardson made cameos here and there, appearing to be designated as the "running" quarterback to run the zone read. How this makes any sense considering the reason Richardson was replaced to begin with was that his ankle was too injured to run effectively is beyond me, and likely every other Iowa State fan. At this point, the best theory may be that Mess is legitimately trying to kill Sam.

Still, after all this, the Cyclones were still in position to win the game, up 17-14 with Kirby Van Der Kamp poised to punt from his 41 yard line and pin the Horned Frogs and their mostly inept offense deep in their own territory. Instead, KVDK shanked the punt for 17 yards, and TCU went on a 10 play drive capped by a Trevone Boykin 1 yard rushing touchdown with 38 seconds left. The last drive for the Cyclones ended in hilarious fashion as a series of laterals by receivers and running backs were completed perfectly, but the last lateral by QB Grant Rohach was thrown far behind his target and out of bounds.

A truly Iowa State way to lose.