Iowa State moved to 2-0 for the season Saturday with a 48-20 win over Ohio at Jack Trice Stadium.

In a game starkly contrasted to Iowa State’s 17-10 win over Northern Iowa in the season opener, a defensive battle, the Cyclones used 523 yards of total offense to tally their highest point total since a 58-6 victory over Tennessee Tech Sept. 7, 2002.

Senior wide receiver became Iowa State’s career leader in receiving yards on a 59-yard touchdown catch-and-run with 4:53 left in the second quarter.

He passed Tracy Henderson’s 2,048 yards on his fourth catch of the afternoon when he caught a quick pass from ISU quarterback Austin Flynn, juked cornerback T.J. Wright at the first-down marker and outran the rest of the defense to the south end zone to put Iowa State up 31-14.

“I didn’t think of the record at all during the game, but it feels really good,” Danielsen said.

The Cyclones came into the game worried about the Ohio offense, which uses gaps between its offensive linemen and a variety of slotbacks and motion to confuse defenses.

Iowa State’s fears were justified. The Bobcats collected 404 yards of total offense, 219 of them on three big plays — a first-quarter 68-yard touchdown run by quarterback Fred Ray that gave Ohio its only lead, an 80-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Hawk to Scott Mayle and a 71-yard play from Ray to Anthony Hackett that set up Ohio’s last score.

Seven players carried the football against the Cyclones, and five had at least four rushes. Hawk and Ray combined to throw for 237 yards on just 12 completions.

“We struggled in pass coverage on defense at times,” McCarney said, calling the Bobcats longest plays “ridiculous, inexcusable and just ridiculous.”

Flynn, a freshman, continued to impress in just his second game and second start as an ISU quarterback. He ran for 78 yards on 14 carries and was 14-for-27 passing for 252 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

“I felt more confident out there and the running game helped out a lot,” Flynn said.

Senior Michael Wagner again led the Cyclone running game, picking up 115 yards and two touchdowns on 21 rushes. Senior Hiawatha Rutland returned from a one-game suspension and ran well, carrying 12 times for 56 yards and scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns, part of an ISU rushing attack that totaled 271 yards — its best performance since a 277-yard outburst against Kansas last season.

“There are a lot of things to build on from the game and some things we obviously need to get corrected, because we know we’re going to face a much, much better football team next week against Iowa,” McCarney said.

Iowa State forced the Bobcats to go three plays-and-out on their first possession, and a 28-yard punt return by junior Todd Miller gave the Cyclones excellent field position at the Ohio 32. Adam Benike kicked a 26-yard field goal to put the Cyclones up 3-0.

The ISU defense bit on a fake by Ray on the ensuing Ohio possession and turned to watch the Ohio quarterback scamper 68 yards up the middle for a touchdown, making the score 7-3 Ohio.

Iowa State answered with a 3-yard Wagner touchdown run, one of five ISU touchdown conversions in six red zone trips.

Four plays after sophomore nose guard Nick Leaders recovered a fumbled snap at the Ohio 28-yard line, senior receiver Jamaul Montgomery caught a 6-yard slant from Flynn to give Iowa State a 17-7 lead.

But Hawk, who split time with Ray at quarterback throughout the game, found freshman wide receiver Scott Mayle open behind the ISU secondary for an 80-yard play that kept Ohio within three points, 17-14, after one quarter.

In the second quarter, the Cyclones took control, driving a short field capped by a 4-yard Wagner run to take a 24-14 lead with 6:41 remaining. Danielsen’s long play gave the Cyclones a 31-14 lead moments later, and a fumble just before halftime set up a 41-yard Tony Yelk field goal as time expired in the first half, and the Cyclones led by 20 at halftime.

The game settled down in the third quarter. A 71-yard pass from Ray to wide receiver Anthony Hackett set up a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Ray for the only score of the quarter, cutting the ISU lead to 34-20.

Iowa State kept the ball on the ground most of the fourth quarter, and Rutland scored on runs of 7 and 11 yards to create the 48-20 margin.

Danielsen finished with 102 yards on five receptions, while senior teammate Jack Whitver had five catches for 110 yards. Safety Marc Timmons and middle linebacker Brandon Brown each had eight tackles for the Cyclones, while senior defensive tackle Jordan Carstens and true freshman Jason Berryman, who made his first start filling in for injured senior Tyson Smith, each had sacks.

After opening with two victories in two tries, the Cyclones next week host intrastate rival Iowa, which defeated Buffalo Saturday 56-7 to move to 2-0 for the season. Iowa State has defeated Iowa the past five seasons, including a thrilling 36-31 victory in 2002 as the Cyclones rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to win in Iowa City for the third consecutive time.