Iowa State Brings Home Victory at Kansas

The Iowa State Cyclones defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 31-24 today to secure their first Big 12 victory since the Texas game last year. The win improves Iowa State’s record to 2-8 on the season and drops Kansas to 1-9 and in sole possession of dead last in the Big 12.

ISU started flat, allowing Kansas to jump out to a 14-3 lead. However, a 14 play, 80 yard drive for Iowa State ended in a 4-yard Jacob Park throw to Allen Lazard in the corner of the end zone that the big wideout hauled in over the Jayhawk defender to bring the score back to 14-10 early-on in the 2nd quarter.

KU would tack on a field goal on their opening drive of the 3rd quarter, but the Cyclones marched down the field again and Park found Deshaunte Jones, who juked a defender and strolled into the end zone for a 12-yard TD pass. However, a botched hold on the ensuing PAT caused Cole Netten to hit the kick poorly and the try was unsuccessful, meaning the score stayed at 17-16 in favor of Kansas.

The Jayhawks added another touchdown on the following drive when running back Ke’aun Kinner broke loose for a 39-yard run up the gut. ISU answered with their own scoring drive, which featured a heavy dose of running back Mitchell Harger. Harger had eight carries on the drive and punched in a 6-yarder to bring the Cyclones back within 2 points. The two-point conversion failed and the score stood at 24-22.

Iowa State got the ball back with 13:31 remaining in the 4th quarter and quickly moved the ball down the field. The big play of the drive was a run from David Montgomery that went for 46 yards all the way down to the Kansas 3 yard line. After another Montgomery run for 2 yards, Joel Lanning took a keeper into the end zone to put Iowa State up 28-24. Matt Campbell elected to go for two again, but the passing attempt slid through Carson Epps’ hands.

The ensuing drive from the Jayhawks ended in a failed 4th down conversion near midfield. ISU got the ball back and bled time off the clock before Netten kicked a 37 yard field goal with just under three minutes remaining in the game to make it 31-24.

Needing to prevent Kansas from scoring a touchdown, the Iowa State defense came through and picked off freshman quarterback Carter Stanley on the second play of the KU drive. Cornerback Jomal Wiltz was the one who sealed the game for the Cyclones, who kneeled the ball to run out the rest of the time on the game clock to preserve the win.

Iowa State tallied 458 total yards on offense, with 238 of those yards coming on the ground. Montgomery led the way with 169 yards on 24 carries. Harger was next, totalling 58 yards on 8 attempts — all coming on the same possession.

Lazard had a monster day catching passes for the Cyclones, as he had 10 receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown. Jones continued his fine freshman campaign by picking up 5 receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Park had one of his most efficient games at QB so far, going 20/26 for 205 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 interception. Lanning only attempted four passes (completing one for 15 yards), but helped the Cyclones secure victory with his go-ahead rushing TD.

You can see more stats here.

Iowa State’s next game is next Saturday at home against Texas Tech. That game will kick at 2:30 p.m. CST.