This game is never a fun experience, for either side these days. What a slog. Always a field goal game, one way or the other. It’s torture. Who actually likes this game? Put your hands down, you sickos…
But hey, Iowa nabbed a 16-13 win in the Cy-Hawk game (note; no one, and I mean no one, calls it the Hawk-Cy.) Iowa only led for the final 15 seconds of the game, a game I thought they would win with some room to spare. Instead, they nearly got out Iowa’d in this game. Iowa had zero, and I mean zero, energy early on as they fell into a 10-0 hole, but they were brilliant in immediately getting back in the game with the long ball to Tony Diaz. I thought Hank Brown played well after some early jitters and some misses on a couple of deep balls – this was the perfect storm against the Brown-Jeremy Hecklinski rotation, a combo of an allegedly shaky week of practice from Hecklinski and the game state calling for calm and not making a change. Brown was probably going to get one more drive, and he delivered on that drive, cutting the deficit to 10-7 and it was Brown the rest of the way. The defense answered the bell when it had to after some real difficulties with Iowa State’s jumbo sets. The Iowa run game never got on track until it did, scratching out some yardage when it mattered the most on Iowa’s final two drives.
And what a final series from Iowa to finally take the lead. The punt return from Reece Vander Zee. Brown to Kamari Moulton for 8 yards, then a Moulton first down. Moulton came alive to do just enough before he was injured. Marcus McNeil with a big carry before Caden Buhr joined the long, weird list of kickers that have had big moments in this series.
Whatever. What the heck ever. Survive and advance.
Defense stepped up when it was needed
Iowa State had a temporary hold on Iowa’s defense. Their jumbo packages were tough to respond to. It leveraged Iowa State’s game plan perfectly. Keep Iowa off guard, chew clock, eat a few yards, if we can hit a few big plays we’re in business. And hey, they had a couple of big plays.
After going up 13-10? Iowa State had 50 yards of offense and two first downs. 24 of those yards and one of those first downs was on the final play of the game. That was superb by Iowa’s defense the final 25ish minutes of the game.
Special Teams answered the call
Going into the season, Iowa was looking at a whole slew of changes on special teams. By “whole slew” I mean, everyone. New coach. New returners. New holder. New snapper. New punter. New kicker. Changes everywhere.
After missing his first PAT last week against Northern Illinois then also missing his first field goal attempt, Caden Buhr has made his last ten kicks. Of course, he nails the game-winner. Boston Everitt has 6 punts on Saturday for a 44-yard average and a long of 51. Tanner Philpott gets a game ball for his hold on the game-winner – that snap was not good and he collected it with ease and got it down for Buhr’s kick. Even the punt return game, which had some uninspiring moments, got two big returns at the end from Vander Zee.
Struggles on offense
This was going to be a tough game. I should have known better going in. Where is Iowa State most experienced? Defensive line. And there is continuity on that side of the ball for the Cyclones. They had a few holdovers from Matthew Campbell on that side, plus Jimmy Rogers brought players with him from Washington State. And the commentary from Todd Blackledge and Paul Burmeister mentioned Rogers’ mindset change in rivalry games after his experience in the Apple Cup last year, that he treated it as just another game when it’s not. That’s before getting into scheme, where Iowa State’s defense is unique with how wide the splits are, which makes for a tough ask for a zone scheme that wants those scraps to allow the offensive line to get to the second level.
All of that pointed to some struggles for Iowa’s offense. They had them, no doubt. The run game didn’t get going like we all thought it would. Brown’s start was shaky, though he settled in after hitting the long pass to Diaz that kick-started Iowa getting back in the contest. Once Iowa was able to get field position in a better spot late in the contest, it came together for the Hawks. They got enough from the run game when it mattered most.
Physicality…to a point
That was a physical game. Iowa State was at (or sometimes, over) the line a lot. The Moulton play at the end. Iowa getting stuffed on fourth and one early in the game should have been a 15-yard penalty on Iowa State – the entire reason Brown’s helmet came off is because an Iowa State player ripped it off. I’ve never seen a player (two players, actually) grab a punt returner that is backing away from the ball while it rolls and is a full four yards back, then try and throw the returner into the ball. Never seen it. And then shove the returners head into the turf twice. Weird sequence that should have led to more Iowa State penalties. Yes, plural. The extra-curriculars from the Clones on that play should have been called, and it was rightly called out on the broadcast.
We’re on to UNI.
