ISU freshman punter Todd Blankenship saw his first action of the year, averaging 42 yards on five punts in Saturday’s loss to Kansas State.

Regular punter Tony Yelk has struggled with blocked kicks and, coupled with a bad week of practice, found himself behind Blankenship on the depth chart.

“Tony was extremely inconsistent and hurt our team with low kicks and bad hang time,” ISU head coach Dan McCarney said. “We tried them out this week and [Blankenship] did a better job. With the exception of a shank and dropped snap, I thought he did really well and showed good potential.”

The dropped snap McCarney referred to resulted in another punt block by opposing special teams. Yelk did have one punt during the game for 48 yards.

Lethal Combination

The dynamic duo of Ell Roberson and Darren Sproles was too much for Iowa State to overcome.

Sproles had his sixth straight 100-yard rushing game and became the fastest Wildcat to reach 1,000 yards in team history.

Sproles had 103 yards on 18 carries in only three quarters of action. The 5-foot-7 back squirted through holes opened by a physical KSU line and showed exceptional speed getting around the edge. Roberson added 61 yards on the ground and two touchdowns while throwing for 162 yards on 12-for-17 passing.

Roberson looked much more like a Heisman candidate as his timely passing and running had the Iowa State defense on his heels much of the day.

“He was into the ballgame in a very intense fashion,” KSU head coach Bill Snyder said. “It was positive intensity, and he was right where we needed him to be.”