IOWA CITY, Iowa — With enough drama and anxiety to inundate and captivate an entire state, Jake Knott made a statement.

With the Hawkeyes threatening to take the lead with one minute until the end of regulation, Knott, a senior ISU linebacker, picked off James Vandenberg to put the icing on the cake of a 9-6 Cy-Hawk victory for Iowa State — its first since 2002 — on Saturday.

“Who knows how high he was, what the level of the ball was when he made the play,” said ISU coach Paul Rhoads on the play made by Jake Knott after the game. “To do that after 59 minutes of football with our backs against the wall, momentum clearly in their favor, and then have the presence of mind to sell and find it and intercept it, you don’t make better plays than that in this game.”

Rhoads said Knott’s play will go down in history in the Cy-Hawk series, which has now seen 60 matchups between Iowa and Iowa State in football.

Knott said that through film study and anticipation, he noticed rival Hawkeye player James Vandenberg had tried to hit team member and tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz on a slant route earlier in the game, managing to tip the pass and come down with it to end the game.

“For something like that to happen when you understand the rivalry and you’ve been here and seen it all, it’s kind of a dream come true,” Knott said of his game-winning interception.

The interception marked the seventh of Knott’s career, placing him one interception away from being tied for ninth place for the most in ISU history.

“That’s Jake Knott for you,” said senior nose tackle Jake McDonough. “He’ll do that game-in and game-out. He’s a good player for us. He’s not afraid to stick his nose in somewhere and make a play. He does whatever it takes to give it up for our team, and it was huge to see that he got the interception to end his [career] at Kinnick.”

Knott and McDonough spearheaded a defensive effort that held the Hawkeyes (1-1) to just 68 yards rushing — its lowest-allowed in the series since 1999 (62 rushing yards).

In the defensive effort, the Cyclones suffered just one carry that went for more than 10 yards.

“The credit goes to the defensive line; they did a great job up front getting the push and letting us linebackers flow to the football,” said senior linebacker A.J. Klein. “That’s a big key of us stopping the run.”

The most crucial moment in the game came when the ISU defense stopped the Hawkeyes in a goal-line stand at the beginning of the fourth quarter, stuffing running back Damon Bullock twice before forcing an incomplete pass by Vandenberg to prevent an otherwise sure touchdown.

“We decided to take a stand right there and we put our foot in the ground and said we’re not going to take any more,” McDonough said. “All we had to do was stop him and that was huge for us.”

Before Saturday, Iowa had not been without a touchdown at Kinnick since Oct. 24, 1998, when it was shut out by Wisconsin 31-0. It was also the first time Iowa State had kept Iowa without a touchdown at Kinnick since Sept. 23, 1978, when the Cyclones won 31-0.

Despite the polar opposite marks on the scoreboard, this year’s three-point win ranks high with last year’s three-point win for the Cyclones. Iowa State defeated Iowa 44-41 in triple overtime last season at Jack Trice Stadium.

“Last year was huge; it really gave us a lot of confidence coming into this year,” Knott said. “We know we could play with them. My first two years here, they just went out and slaughtered us. Being able to come back and win my senior year and my junior year, it’s huge for Iowa State and really shows how far this program has come.”

Walking out of Kinnick with a win is huge for Rhoads and the Cyclones, having a chance to go 3-0 in non-conference play for the second year in a row and head into Big 12 play with an extra chip on their shoulder.

“To have the opportunity to be going for our third victory next week in those non-conference games is very important to our overall season success,” Rhoads said. “Plus it continues to help you gain confidence and momentum.”