Iowa State’s special teams played a big role in the 40-21 loss to the Hawkeyes on Saturday.

On the opening kickoff, ISU kicker Adam Benike lofted the ball with the wind, to the goal line, where Iowa’s Ramon Ochoa returned the ball to the Cyclones’ 38-yard line.

The Hawkeyes had two kickoff returns that totaled 72 yards, compared to two returns for the Cyclones that only totaled 26. Seven Nate Kaeding kickoffs sailed through the end zone for touchbacks.

The Cyclones were without kicker Tony Yelk due to a leg injury he suffered during last week’s game against Ohio.

With Yelk out of the game, sophomore Troy Blankenship was put in to punt the ball. With Iowa State having gone three-and-out on their opening possession of the third quarter, the Cyclones tried to get the ball out of their territory. However, the punt was blocked by Sean Considine and recovered in the end zone by Chris Smith of Iowa.

After an interception by Grant Steen led to a field goal for the Hawkeyes, the Cyclones took over at their own 20-yard line.

They again went three-and-out, and again were forced to punt deep in their own territory. Considine got through the line again and blocked Blankenship’s punt, which was recovered by Iowa’s George Lewis at the Cyclone 6-yard line.

Both punt blocks came when the snap to Blankenship was high, forcing him to jump to get the ball. That added extra time for the Hawkeye defense to break through and block the punt.

“I don’t think Yelk’s absence hurt us today,” ISU head coach Dan McCarney said. “His not being there didn’t affect the high snaps or bad protection.”

The mishaps by the punting team, along with the interception led to 13 straight second-half points for the Hawkeyes.

In contrast, Iowa’s Kaeding — who last year won the Lou Groza award, given to the nation’s best placekicker — put the Hawkeyes on the board early with a 42-yard field goal into the wind. He added three other field goals and scored all four extra point attempts to become Iowa’s all-time leading scorer with 291 points.

Iowa State is off this week. McCarney said Yelk’s status was day-to-day.