Charley Bogwill, Bill Marsau, Ben Beaudet, Eugene Bernal, Ben Bruns, Damian Gibson and Joe Parmentier.

The Cyclone “big uglies” can’t avoid the blame when their quarterback goes down or their star tailback only manages a few dozen yards. On the other hand, they can’t seem to buy any appreciation when the team succeeds.

Bogwill, Marsau, Beaudet, Bernal and Bruns make up the Cyclone offensive line, Gibson is the starting tight end and Parmentier is the team’s fullback.

These are the guys that open the holes that Darren Davis runs through. They also manhandle the likes of Jared DeVries to protect their quarterback, Todd Bandhauer.

On Saturday, the Iowa State blockers sprang Davis for nearly 250 yards against one of the most highly touted defensive fronts in the Big 10.

Davis averaged 6.6 yards per carry on the day. Of that 6.6, Darren twisted, spun and hurdled his way for about 2.6 yards per rush. The other four yards generally came gift-wrapped from his line.

Bogwill, the team’s starting center, knew that they’d have to pick up the slack if the Cyclones were going to win.

“All of practice, Monday through Thursday, we knew we’d have to run the ball,” Bogwill said. “We knew it was up to us if we were going to win.”

When Coach Dan McCarney discussed the reasons for his team’s victory after the game, it was clear that he didn’t underappreciate his big men.

“Bottom line,” McCarney said, “our offensive line won the war up front.”

Another statistic dear to the hearts of ISU’s blockers is their two-week sack total.

After giving up 46 sacks last season (4.2 per game), Todd Bandhauer has yet to go down this year.

“We don’t even want anybody hitting Bandhauer,” Bogwill said, “so coming out of the game without a sack is a real positive to build off of.”

Bandhauer is another high-profile guy who doesn’t forget the grunt work his blockers do.

“Two games, no sacks. That’s unbelievable,” Bandhauer said. “They’re playing the best of any line that I’ve ever been around.”

After getting pounded last year by Hawkeye All-American defensive lineman DeVries, Bandy didn’t even notice him on Saturday. DeVries is tied for the all-time Hawkeye sack record with 33.

“Guess Jared will have to wait another week for that sack record,” Bandhauer said. “Hell yeah!”

Despite the lack of glory that these men usually encounter, one of their own found the endzone twice against Iowa.

Parmentier, who has been starting at fullback for the Cyclones for four years now, had never managed a rushing touchdown until Saturday.

Against the Hawkeyes, the 250-pounder had two.

“I told the offensive lineman, ‘I’m one of you guys and I’m going to go get one for you,'” Parmentier said. “I thought I’d share it with them. They sure deserve it.”

Playing for one another wasn’t all that was on the minds of the highly effective Cyclone blockers. They wanted to take it to the Hawkeyes for their teammates, for their school, for fallen comrade Marc Cortez and for the all of the ghosts of Cyclones past.

Parmentier summed it up best after the game.

“It’s great for Iowa State. Coach Mac deserves it more than anyone else. It’s great for Gene Smith and for all the old players: Mike Lincavage, Tyrone Watley, Troy Davis, Timmie Sanders, Matt Straight, Greg Schoon.

“All these guys. This is their hopes and this is their dreams, and part of us did it for them, too.”

Congrats, guys, for fulfilling your own hopes and dreams, as well as those of every Cyclone fan on earth.

---

 
Iowa State 27
Iowa 9
Iowa State 10 10 7 0 — 27
Iowa 3 0 6 0 — 9
First Quarter
ISU—Davis 12 run (Kohl kick), 12:18.
ISU—FG Kohl 28, 5:00.
IOW—FG Douglas 48, 0:16.
Second Quarter
ISU—Parmentier 1 run (Kohl kick), 10:21.
ISU—FG Kohl 24, 0:02.
Third Quarter
ISU—Parmentier 1 run (Kohl kick), 12:57.
IOW—Betts 4 run (pass fail), 6:03.
A—70,397.
ISU IOW
First downs 19 16
Rushes-yards 47-254 25-42
Passing 125 229
Comp-Att-Int 11-16-0 19-30-0
Return Yards 28 71
Punts-Avg. 5-47 6-36
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 10-96 12-77
Time of Possession 33:29 26:31
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Iowa State, Davis, 37-244, Moses 3-11, Parmentier 3-4, Haywood 1-1, Burris 1-(minus 3), Bandhauer 2-(minus 3). Iowa, Betts 11-27, Burger 3-19, Thein 2-1, McCann 9-(minus 5).
PASSING—Iowa State, Bandhauer, 11-16-0 125. Iowa, McCann 19-30-0 229.
RECEIVING—Iowa State, Groce 2-39, Stensrud 2-37, Brantley 2-21, Anthony 2-14, Davis 1-9, Gibson 1-5, Moses 1-0. Iowa, Dull 4-42, Hill 4-31, Burger 3-17, Betts 2-42, Barton 2-40, Yamini 2-17, Wheatley 1-37, Kasper 1-3.