Iowa St. 20, Iowa 19
A legend is born in Ames as Kyle Konrady, the freshman from Dubuque, hits a 54 yard field goal in the final seconds as the Cyclones rally to stun the Hawkeyes. Konrady had missed earlier from 41 yards out but got the opportunity for redemption when Iowa St. got the ball with 33 seconds left and no time outs. QB Rocco Becht found Jaylin Noel on back to back pass plays, the second for a 30 yard gain on the sideline to put ISU in field goal range. After Konrady’s kick, Kaden Wetjen would return the kickoff back to midfield to give Iowa one last chance but Cade McNamara’s hail mary was well short and the Cyclones have won the Cy Hawk Trophy the last two times the game has been held in Kinnick Stadium.
The Cyclones win spoiled a great game from Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson who had 25 carries for 187 yards and 2 TD. The second touchdown made it 19-7 and Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz decided to go for two points but McNamara’s pass was overthrown. Ferentz in his press conference did not second guess the decision — instead he said that the offense’s inability to finish drives and settle for two field goals in the first half was more glaring. McNamara did not have a strong game, just 13-29 passing for 99 yards and 2 interceptions.
Becht, meanwhile, recovered from a slow start going 23-35 passing for 272 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT. Early in the second half, McNamara would throw his first pick of the game to Darrien Porter on an overthrow and Becht capped a 9 play drive with 3 yard TD pass to Jaylin Noel on 3rd and Goal for the Cyclones first score of the game. The Hawkeyes answered with a 7 play drive and Johnson’s 3 yard plunge to put the Hawkeyes up 19-7. After the missed 2 point conversion, ISU went for the big play as Noel ran past the Iowa secondary and Becht hit him in stride for a 75 yard touchdown to make it 19-14.
Konrady’s leg would take over in the 4th quarter, kicking a 46 yard field goal with 11:32 left to make it 19-17 Iowa. The Hawkeyes went conservative the rest of the game, relying on their defense to bring them home. Historically, that has been the Ferentz formula. This time, the Cyclones stuffed Johnson on 3rd and 8 with 1:24 left, Iowa let the clock run down to 38 seconds and the punt pushed ISU back to their own 22 yard line. Becht, Noel, and Konrady did the rest.
Noel finished with 5 receptions for 133 yards and 1 TD. Jayden Higgins had 8 catches for 68 yards and 1 TD. Abu Sama II finished with 17 carries for 58 yards. Iowa St. is now poised to get into the Top 25 for the first time this season with a 2-0 record heading into the bye week. Iowa falls to 1-1 and will look for a rebound next week, hosting Troy.
Nebraska 28, Colorado 10
The Huskers stormed out to a big lead and then the defense took over and limited the big plays of the Buffs. It was a show in the first half for Nebraska with two rushing TD’s plus Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders threw an interception deep in his own territory by Tommi Hill who waltzed into the end zone for a 7 yard score. Dylan Raiola added an 18 yard TD pass to Rahmir Johnson just before the end of the first half.
Nebraska had built a 4 score lead that Colorado could not overcome. The Buffs were held just 16 yards rushing and a future #1 NFL draft pick Sanders was 23-38 for 244 yards and 1 TD and 1 INT with most of the yards coming in the second half. For the Huskers, Dowdell finished with 17 carries for 74 yards and 2 TD; Raiola was 23-30 for 185 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT. The Nebraska defense had a TD, got two turnovers and sacked Sanders 6 times by 6 different players.
Nebraska goes to 2-0 and will host Northern Iowa next Saturday
Nebraska-Kearney 21, NW Missouri St. 14
Two interceptions from Chris Ruhnke in the 2nd half did in the Bearcats as the offense failed to score points in the final three quarters. NW Missouri St. scored first on a Ruhnke 10 yard TD pass to Eric Richardson but the Lopers answered with a 26 yard TD pass from Reagan Jones to Zane Schawang. The Bearcats struck back immediately on a 23 yard TD pass to Zach Atkins to make it 14-7.
What looked like a shootout turned into a game of stalled drives, punts and missed opportunities for the Bearcats. Jones would score on a 2 yard TD run at the end of the 2nd quarter and it was tied 14-14 at the half. Nebraska Kearney broke the tie with 2 minutes left in the third quarter on a 12 yard TD run by Jones.
On the first play of the next possession, Ruhnke threw the first of his 2 picks. The second one came on a 4th and Goal with 30 seconds left with a chance to force overtime. Ruhnke was 25-38 passing for 311 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT. The Bearcats struggled again in the running game finishing with just 32 yards on the ground. For the Lopers, Jones was 15-30 passing for 141 yards and 1 TD plus he rushed 14 times for 74 yards and 2 TD.
NW Missouri St. is now 0-2 for the first time since 1995. They’ll try to rebound next Saturday hosting Fort Hays St.