(Ames, IA) — Rocco Becht continues to prove that he is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the country. The Junior threw for 243 yards and ran for three scores as Iowa St. opening Big 12 play with a 39-14 win over Arizona.
After the Wildcats missed a 46 yard field goal on their opening drive, Becht took the Cyclones on a 9 play drive — he found Chase Sowell on a 43 yard pass play to set up his first TD of the night. A two point conversion made it 8-0.
After a series of punts with Arizona getting two 3 and outs, ISU got excellent field position at the ‘Zona 38. The Wildcats committed a key pass interference at the start of the 2nd quarter and Carson Hansen got a 1 yard TD run to make it 15-0.
After another punt exchange, Ismail Mahidi broke an 18 yard run to get the Wildcats out of bad field position but with the ball near midfield, Noah Fifta was picked off by Jontez Williams. After a one yard loss, Becht hooked up with Ben Brahmer on a 27 yard pass to set up Hansen’s 2nd TD of the night from 3 yards to make it 22-0.
Arizona finally got on the board just before the end of the half with a 12 play drive as Fifta hit Kris Hutson on a 9 yard TD but the Cyclones led 22-7 going into the locker room.
Iowa St. pretty much put the game away early in the third quarter with TDs on their first two possessions. Becht would find Chase Sowell for another big play — a 52 yarder to set up Becht’s 2nd TD. After a Wildcat punt, the play of the night came from Brahmer who took the handoff from Becht and fired a pass to a wide open Brett Eskildsen for a 45 pass play to the 1 yard line. Brahmer’s pass was slightly underthrown otherwise it would have been a TD. Becht took it the rest of the way for his third score of the night.
Iowa St. matches their best ever start at 5-0 while Arizona falls to 3-1. Next up for the Cyclones is a visit to Cincinnati next Saturday, 11 am kickoff, Cyclones Pre Game at 9 am on KSOM.
Iowa St. Stats
Rocco Becht 14-20 passing, 243 yards, 1 INT; 9 carries, -10 yards, 3 TD
Carson Hansen 19 carries, 63 yards, 2 TD
Chase Sowell 4 catches, 146 yards
Brett Eskildsen 3 catches, 54 yards
Caleb Bacon 8 tackles
Arizona Stats
Noah Fifta 32-48 passing, 253 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Ismail Mahidi 13 carries, 85 yards
Kris Hutson 6 catches, 67 yards, 1 TD
