Iowa State Lands A Lasting Blow, Beats Baylor 28-14

Iowa State improved to 6-3 on the season and stayed alive in the Big 12 championship hunt by taking care of business in front of the home crowd Saturday. The game will forever be mired in controversy, after a fight broke out in the 3rd quarter, leading to multiple ejections. The Cyclone defense struggled at times to contain Baylor’s quarterback, Charlie Brewer, but made plays when necessary. They also received a little good fortune, as the Bears missed 2 field goal attempts in the first half.

On offense, the Cyclones were ruthlessly efficient in the first half, putting up 17 points despite only having 3 possessions. Brock Purdy was not fazed by the sub-30 degree weather, as the freshman from Arizona finished off the opening drive with a beautiful throw to Deshaunte Jones.

He followed that up by running one in with plenty of open space to make it 14-0 Cyclones.

The part of the game that will catch all the attention started about 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter. David Montgomery was driven out of bounds into the bench and drew a late hit penalty that started an initial scuffle. Later in the drive, Hakeem Butler was dragged in, after he was held on top of a Baylor defender. From there a brawl broke out, with Greg Roberts from Baylor reaching over the referee to take a swing at Montgomery. David retaliated, and both players were ejected from the game.

It’s plain to see that this was instigated by Roberts, and he went way over the line. He was even restrained by a police officer on the field and led back to his sideline. As of right now, Montgomery’s availability for the first half of next week’s game is in question. Iowa State will almost certainly appeal a first half suspension. To David’s credit, he immediately took to Twitter to apologize to the fanbase.

After Baylor scored to make it 20-7, Iowa State responded with Johnnie Lang scoring his first career touchdown. Matt Campbell called the “Purdy Special” for a 2-point conversion to make it 28-7 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Baylor scored again to make it 28-14, but the defense held up against the backup quarterback after Brewer was ejected for picking up a 2nd unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Purdy led the way, completing 18 of 23 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown, and leading the team with 56 rushing yards and another score.

The fallout from the fight will certainly be talked about endlessly in the coming days, but for now we can enjoy the fact that Iowa State will go bowling again this year, and has plenty more to play for. Next week, the Cyclones travel to Austin for a huge showdown with Texas.