Iowa State cornerback Leonard Johnson rung his own bell Saturday, colliding helmet-to-helmet with Iowa tight end Tony Moeaki.

Johnson fell over limply and momentarily did not move on the field, but coach Gene Chizik said the true freshman did not suffer a concussion.

“We actually gave him one of the tests that the trainers give, you know, afterwards to see how he’s doing,” Chizik said. “He was actually smarter after the hit.”

The fourth-quarter play resulted in a questionable 15-yard personal foul. Johnson lowered his level to tackle Moeaki, but did not appear to be leading with his helmet.

Chizik said it was a “tough call.” The yardage advanced Iowa to the ISU 31-yard line, and the Hawkeyes scored their first touchdown four plays later.

Snap, hold, kick

The ISU football team has its first chance to cope with a loss this week.

Eyes will be on true freshman kicker Grant Mahoney, who missed three of four field goals Saturday after a near-perfect start. Chizik pointed out there were two bad snaps on the first two misses.

“We want to say it was Grant this, Grant that, but we had a low snap on the first field goal, [and] we had a high snap on the second field goal,” Chizik said. “[Holder and linebacker] Derec Schmidgall did a great job to handle those snaps on a day, weather-wise, like it was. Derec did a great job, but it was a whole operational situation.”

The Cyclones also have a true freshman at long-snapper, Dakota Zimmerman. Chizik was faced with questions about backup kicker Zach Guyer, a true freshman Mahoney beat out in camp.

“We feel good about Zach, but we feel great about Grant,” Chizik said. “The kid’s resilient … it’s the first time we have a chance to see Grant respond to a game that wasn’t to anybody’s liking — certainly not to his, because he holds a very high standard for himself. So it’ll be interesting to see how he responds to it.”

Mahoney declined to appear at Saturday’s post-game press conference and was withheld from interviews on Sunday.

Banks might play this season

Cornerback Kennard Banks still might play this season after breaking his forearm in the team’s season-opener.

Chizik said the possibility of his return will sort itself out over the “next few weeks.”

“We’d love to be able to say we can get him back. Is that realistic or unrealistic? I’m not really sure, simply because I’m not really sure the doctors really know right now,” Chizik said. “He’s a special young guy now. He’s different. If it were 85 percent of the players on our team right now, I’d say he’s done. But this one’s different.”

The physical, 5-foot-10 junior Ju-Co transfer made three tackles in the first half against South Dakota State before suffering the injury. Chizik said the coaching staff will look into whether Banks can be outfitted with a cast that allows him to play.

“He’s not going to just go out there and play with sweatbands on,” Chizik said.