Fortunately for a Homecoming crowd of 46,485 fans at Jack Trice Stadium, there are two halves to a football game.

Unable to muster up any offense and giving the KU offense over 21 minutes with the ball, the Cyclones trailed the Jayhawks 9-7 after a trio of field goals from KU kicker Jacob Branstetter. However, after a first half that found the Cyclones trailing in total yards 170-122 and first downs 10-5, the Cyclones scored 21 unanswered points and held on for 28-16 victory.

Iowa State’s first offensive series ended quickly as Kansas recovered a fumble by ISU junior wide receiver Darius Reynolds, giving the Jayhawks the ball on the ISU 37-yard line. Following the Reynolds fumble, Kansas moved the ball 20 yards to set up kicker Jacob Branstetter for a 34-yard field goal which Branstetter knocked through the uprights to give the Jayhawks an early 3-0 lead.

The Cyclones were unable to get anything going on their second offensive drive and were forced to punt after three plays. The Jayhawks continued to dominate the clock as they drove 47 yards on 12 plays, capping it off with another Branstetter field goal from 42 yards.

The teams traded punts to begin the second quarter, but the Cyclones would finally get a spark following the second Kansas three and out. ISU punt returner Josh Lenz fielded a punt on the Iowa State 38-yard line and after slipping an initial tackle, he changed direction and headed down the left sideline. Lenz picked up two more blocks and sprinted into the north end zone for a 62-yard touchdown return. The punt return for a touchdown was the first for an Iowa State squad since 2006.

The Jayhawks finished off the first half with a 38-yard field goal for the Jayhawks to give Kansas a 9-7 lead going into the locker room. The Cyclones started the second half quickly with a 2 minute, 35 second drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run for Alexander Robinson.

After a Kansas punt, Iowa State milked the clock with a 16-play, 89-yard drive that ended with freshman running back Jeff Woody scoring his first career touchdown on a 3-yard plunge, putting the Cyclones up 21-9.

The Cyclones continued their second-half scoring following an interception from ISU linebacker Jake Knott with a 33-yard scamper by freshman running back Shontrelle Johnson. The Johnson run would mark the final score for the Cyclones as they held the Kansas offense out of the end zone until Jayhawk running back James Sims scored on a 5-yard touchdown reception with seven seconds left in the game.

For more coverage of the Iowa State-Kansas game, check back on iowastatedaily.net and look for Monday’s print edition of the Iowa State Daily.