Iowa State Beats Directional Iowa

So, uh.

Yea.

The Iowa State Cyclones beat the Purple Hawkeyes by a final score of 16-10 Saturday in a packed Jack Trice Stadium.

The game started slow, was slow in the middle, and closed out slowly as well. Directional Iowa scored first on a Will McElvain pass to Quan Hampton late in the 1st quarter, which sent CYHusker into a well-predicted spiral.

The Cyclone offense would answer with a field goal thanks in part to a long 39 yard pass to Xavier Hutchinson. After forcing a punt, a methodical drive, with aid of a pass interference penalty, resulted in a 2 yard touchdown run for Breece Hall.

The pantherhawks and ISU would then trade field goals to make it 10-13 at halftime.

The second half was basically more of the same: lots of punts, two McElvain interceptions, an Assalley field goal, and some of the most conservative, boring offense this staff writer has ever seen.

Just once, for the love of all things holy, would it be nice for Iowa State to man-handle a week one opponent. Just once.

Instead, we got an offensive line that couldn’t block, absolutely no production from the tight end position, and a persistent effort to run the most boring offense Cyclone fans have ever seen.

There were some positives to take from this game, however, as the Cyclone defense held UNI to 275 total yards and forced 2 turnovers. The pass rush was effective, the secondary kept plays in front of them, and the linebackers looked excellent. On offense, the wide receiver core looked fine, with Tarique Milton catching a decently long pass.

Other than that...

Rarely has the vibe leaving the stadium felt more like a loss than it did today.

My favorite college football podcast, the “Solid Verbal”, has a saying about bad games that are eventually bound to happen.

That saying?

“Win your clunkers”.

Well folks, Iowa State just did. And for that, we should be thankful.