Once again, the difference in the ISU game was two Cyclone field goal attempts. The unusual part about that in this game was that Iowa State’s kicker WON the game for the Cyclones in a 13-7 victory over Kansas.

Kicker Bret Culbertson connected on both of his field goal attempts to push Iowa State to a 2-3 record in the Big 12 and a 4-4 record overall.

The biggest thing that can be said about Saturday’s game is that, for the first time this season, the Cyclones played an overall very good game and also managed to win.

Throughout the season, the games Iowa State had played well (such as the Iowa game), it managed to lose, while games it won (Northern Illinois and Baylor) were played sloppily. Finally, Iowa State put the two together to get a convincing win in a game that was not as close as the final score indicates.

In a game where one might point to the lack of a passing game as a weakness, it was caused more by Iowa State getting back to old-school, smash-mouth type of football, gaining crucial yards on the ground with Stevie Hicks and Jason Scales.

Hicks has finally proved himself as a Big 12 threat at running back, gaining 110 yards on the game. There was one particular play, though, were it seemed he stepped out of the “maybe” bracket into the “guaranteed” bracket.

With Iowa State on its own 19-yard line, Meyer handed the ball off to Hicks, who immediately got hit at the 20. Instead of going down, like he probably would have at the same point last year, Hicks broke the tackle and bustled and bruised his way up to the 37-yard line.

The effort and effectiveness Hicks put into the run has made believers in what he can and will do in his ISU career.

One major reason the Cyclones were probably running the ball was because of the terribly cold and windy weather.

Although the offense might not be fun to watch in these conditions, it’s the weather defenses love to play in, and it looked like the Cyclone defense was having fun all game long.

The biggest play on defense was from gamebreaker Brent Curvey. Curvey picked up a fumble and rumbled all of the way to the end zone for his second touchdown in as many weeks.

There is nothing more enjoyable than watching a big man huff and puff into the end zone, and Jack Trice Stadium agreed, exploding in cheers as Curvey reached the goal line.

Both the pass and the rush defense played exceptional against anything the Kansas offense could give it, continually stopping the run and even picking off three Kansas passes.

The interceptions came up huge in the game, as Nik Moser proved even more why he is a better player at the safety position — he did once again in what may have been a crucial drive for Kansas.

Ellis Hobbs also made a sideline pick in Kansas’ final drive that cemented the win for the Cyclones and then went on to do a dance that seemed like it lasted over 15 minutes.

The offense did what it had to, the defense shut down a pretty potent Kansas passing attack, and the punting and kicking game was superb (how weird is that to hear or say?).

Other than a few mistakes with players running into each other on punt returns, Iowa State played an overall great game and got itself much deserved win over a decent and improving Kansas team.