Iowa St. 52, Arkansas St. 7
The Cyclones have arrived! It was a completely one sided affair as ISU led the whole way — it was 31-0 at the half and cruise control in the 2nd half against a strong Red Wolves team that only lost by 10 to Michigan in the Big House one week ago.
Rocco Becht was 11-18 passing for 204 yards 2 TD, 1 INT and he ran for another score. Freshman Carson Hansen had 9 carries for 58 yards and 2 TD. Aiden Flora and Dylan Lee each had a rushing TD. Iowa St. had 237 rushing yards compared to just 64 for Arkansas St. Ben Brahmer had 3 catches for 73 yards, Jayden Higgins 4 receptions for 65 yards and 1 TD. Nine different Cyclones caught at least one pass.
Iowa St. got 4 turnovers from the Red Wolves; Beau Freyler and Kooper Ebel each had 6 tackles, Ebel 1 sack. Arkansas St. QB Jaylen Raynor was just 5-16 passing for 68 yards and 2 INT.
The win was the 56th career victory for Head Coach Matt Campbell which ties him with Dan McCarney for most in Cyclone history.
Iowa St. is now 3-0 on the season and will open Big 12 play next Saturday at Houston, kickoff to be determined, coverage on KSOM.
NW Missouri St. 59, Missouri Southern 0
The Bearcats went hunting for win number two and they got it on the road against the Lions. Chris Ruhnke set the tone early with a 68 yard TD pass to Eric Richardson early in the first quarter. Ruhnke picked apart the Southern defense, going 26-33 passing for 331 yards and 3 TD. Richardson had 3 catches for 85 yards and a TD. Eleven different Northwest players caught a pass. John Giagiari got an 8 yard score and Zach Atkins added a 5 yard TD Back up Henry Martin threw a 32 yard TD to Jamar Simpson, Martin also had 2 rushing touchdowns.
Missouri Southern was held to 8 yards rushing and 72 yards of total offense. Shane Frederickson returned an interception 55 yards for a TD early in the 2nd quarter.
NW Missouri evens their record at 2-2, the Bearcats host Emporia St. next Saturday
Iowa 31, Minnesota 14
Floyd of Rosedale is coming back to Iowa City as Kaleb Johnson continues to dominate on the ground and the Hawkeyes overcame another slow start to beat the Gophers. Minnesota scored on back to back drives in the 2nd quarter to take a 14-7 lead into the locker room. BUT. Iowa had the ball first in the third quarter and Cade McNamara found Addison Ostrenga for a 20 yard pass. Johnson broke one on the outside for a 17 yard run and was hit out of bounds for a late hit on the Gophers. Three plays later, Johnson put it in the end zone for a 15 yard TD to tie the game at 14.
Minnesota would punt on their first possession of the second half and Iowa went back to work. McNamara converted a 3rd and 6 with an 18 yard pass to Reece Vander Zee. After two runs by Jaziun Patterson, Johnson came back in and busted a 40 yard TD run to give Iowa the lead that they would never relinquish.
The Gophers were held to just 56 yards in the 2nd half; only 79 yards rushing the entire game. Minnesota had 132 yards on their two scoring drives but just 150 yards the rest of the game. Jay Higgins led the Iowa defense with 9 tackles; Deshaun Lee had 8 tackles, 4 solo; Nick Jackson 8 tackles, 1 sack, 1.5 TFL.
The biggest story was Johnson who finished with 21 carries and a career high 206 yards and 3 TD. Cade McNamara was 11-19 passing for 62 yards.
Iowa goes to 3-1 on the season and will be on a bye next week before heading to Ohio St. on October 5.