Coach Paul Rhoads said his team grew up this week. The Cyclones proved it Saturday against Army.

Iowa State topped the Black Knights 31-10 before a crowd of 50,532 people to close out the non-conference portion of its schedule.

“The most important thing that took place last week that led into this week’s preparation is that there was business to be taken care of in the second half, and we didn’t do that,” Rhoads said.

This week, Iowa State took a 17-10 halftime lead and was able to expand that to a 31-10 lead, removing all doubt against Army.

“That was an exciting, physical college football game,” Rhoads said.

Quarterback Austen Arnaud agreed, as he was still feeling it after the game.

“They played a tough game. Those guys are very tough. This is probably the sorest I’ve been in a long time,” he said.

That toughness helped the Black Knights become the seventh-ranked rushing attack, at 257 yards per game, and the 16-ranked rush defense, giving up just 77 yards per game coming into the contest.

The Cyclones were able to turn those numbers around, however, allowing just 186 yards rushing on 48 tries and gaining 201 yards on the ground themselves.

Iowa State switched up its base defense in order to hold Army to 3.87 yards per carry.

“We used a five-defensive-back system to start the game,” Rhoads said. “We felt we needed more speed on the field to defend this option.”

The fifth defensive back was sophomore corner Ter’ran Benton, who picked up five tackles while playing most of the game.

When the Black Knights went to the air, it was usually to their behemoth receiver, Ali Villanueva. Villanueva, the 6-foot-10 and 283-pound senior, finished the game with six catches for 77 yards and the team’s only touchdown. 

“I gotta really use my technique that I was taught to defend this guy,” said senior cornerback Kennard Banks, who started the game covering Villanueva. “When the ball is in the air, I see his hands, and he’s probably over seven feet with his hands in the air, and I just play his hands and knock the ball and, hopefully, it comes out and it’s a good play for the defense.”

Offensively, the Cyclones had success moving the ball on the ground, led by Alexander Robinson, who carried the ball 21 times for 132 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown run in the first half.

“I think our offensive line did an outstanding job of sustaining blocks and finishing them off,” Rhoads said.

The ISU rushing attack also got a lift from quarterback Austin Arnaud, who, other than an eight-yard sack, gained 70 yards on 17 carries.

Despite the 31 points the team put up, the Cyclones said they feel their offense is just scratching the surface of its potential. Rhoads said the offense is still in its “infantile stages,” a prognosis Arnaud agrees with.

“We really are in our early stages,” Arnaud said. “All last winter and last summer I watched Rice cut-ups, and we are doing 75 to 80 percent of what they did. The way they scored points last year was just phenomenal to see, and that’s what we are trying to do.”

The Cyclones have shown flashes of what the offense could be at various points throughout the season, and, although they are not where they want to be, they are seeing progress.

“It is definitely going to take some time, but with each down and each week, we get a higher level of confidence and understand it more,” Rhoads said.

But after a game in which the offense played well and the defense held Army to the lowest score for an ISU opponent since Sept. 9, 2006 — when UNLV scored 10 points — Rhoads pointed out that there is still work to be done.

“We’ve got a long way to go still,” he said. “We haven’t emerged as this or that right now. We have emerged as a team that is improving and starting to get it a little bit.”