Playing before a crowd of 70,397 fans, the ISU defense once again showed Hawkeye fans everywhere who the state of Iowa really belongs to. As chants of “Cyclone state” rang out across Kinnick Stadium, the Cyclone defense put the lid on their third straight win over archrival Iowa, yielding a mere 14 points. Led by the defensive line’s 4 sacks of Hawkeye quarterback Scott Mullen, the ISU defense held Iowa backs Ladell Betts and Jeremy Allen in check all game, giving up only 93 yards rushing. “I thought the defense, overall, played really well. We’ve only given up nine, 10 and 14 points, the last three times we’ve won this game. If you play good defense, you have a chance to win,” said ISU head football coach Dan McCarney Defensive linemen Reggie Hayward and James Reed each made 6 tackles, including 3 for loss by Reed, and 2 for loss by Hayward. Hayward accounted for 2 sacks, with Reed collecting one and Ryan Harklau the other. Harklau tallied 4 tackles and Kevin DeRonde added 2. Freshmen Jordan Carstens also saw some playing time in Saturday’s game. Although the Hawks piled up 235 yards through the air, the ISU secondary did not get beat deep once, and continues to show signs of improvement each week. “Every game we’re improving as a secondary. Every day of practice we’re improving. We improve every week, every day, every practice. Even when we’re in shorts and have a one-hour practice, we improve,” said senior cornerback Jamarcus Powers following the Cyclones 24-14 victory. Powers lined up with the Hawkeyes’ top receiver and all-Big 10 selection, Kevin Kasper, for the majority of the game, making 6 tackles. Kasper caught 8 passes for 93 yards, mostly on 10-15 yard down-and-out routes, and never got behind Powers for a big gain. Kasper scored once a 4 yard reception. “They tried about five or six times in the first half to go over the top on us and we didn’t let them do it,” said ISU associate head coach Bobby Elliott. Joining Powers in the secondary were a host of Cyclones, including: Breon Ansley, Atif Austin, Dustin Avey, Marc Timmons, Doug Densmore, and Adam Runk. All put forth a solid performance as Ansley collected 7 tackles, Austin had 5 tackles, and Avey, Timmons, and Runk all had 3 each, with Runk also intercepting a Mullen pass in the second quarter. Timmons showed his versatility as a member of the secondary, leaving Avey to play free safety and stepping in to matchup with Iowa wideout Kahlil Hill. Timmons, a freshmen, put the veteran Hill in lockdown for the time he was covering him one-on-one. “That’s what its all about, playing this position – matching up one-on-one and seeing who’s gonna be better than who. They have some very good wide receivers. A couple of them may be playing on Sundays, but that can’t get into your head. You just have to go out there and play hard and play smart. Coach Elliott did a great job of coaching us this week for this game, and we just went out there and did it,” Timmons said. The Cyclone defense allowed their lowest point total of the season (14), and kept the Hawkeyes under their opponents’ average of 348 net yards per game. Hayward’s second play on defense, a forced fumble on Mullen, seemed to set the tone for the game. Hayward certainly agreed. “That was a big momentum play. We came out into hostile territory a little shaky, with some butterflies. I came out, made a big play, set the tempo, and made things wide-open for the defense. I think the defense played a solid game. We had a slight falter when they scored that second touchdown, but sometimes it goes like that. But we played hard, we played good, and I’m real proud of us,” Hayward said.