Led by junior tailback Tavian Banks’ 182 yard performance and a stingy defensive effort, the Iowa Hawkeyes kept their streak of domination over Iowa State intact with a 38-13 victory at Iowa City Saturday.

Banks, whose performance placed him 14th in school history for rushing yardage in a game, spelled the injured Sedrick Shaw and ended up stealing the spotlight from both Shaw and ISU’s Troy Davis.

“I thought I had let the cat out of the bag,” said Iowa head coach Hayden Fry, referring to his second-string tailback. “At the press conference earlier this week, I said ‘Wouldn’t it be great if Tavian did more than the other two backs?'”

Banks scored three touchdowns, including an 89-yard romp at the end of the first quarter that broke a scoreless tie.

“I got a key block from Shaw to spring me on that run,” Banks said. “Tim [Dwight] also threw a good block downfield.”

Fry felt that having both his tailbacks in the backfield would cause a bit of trouble. “The defense couldn’t key on both men, Shaw threw a great block and Banks made a great cut,” Fry said.

Despite having a career day, Banks was not completely satisfied with his performance. “It felt good, but it’s not all right to have two fumbles,” Banks said.

Banks also led the team in receptions, grabbing four passes for 23 yards.

Banks, a prep star from Bettendorf, has been in the shadow of Sedrick Shaw during his career at Iowa. “I got a little bit more of an opportunity today, and I’m glad it came against ISU,” Banks said. “The rivalry makes for a real good game.”

The Hawkeyes spread the football around, as 13 different players either carried the ball or caught passes. “The more guys that we have touching the ball, the better our offense is going to be,” said quarterback Matt Sherman.

Sherman also gave way to senior Ryan Driscoll toward the ends of both halves.

Fry had good things to say about ISU coach Dan McCarney and his team. “I’ve got to give ISU credit for making those two drives in the third quarter,” Fry said. “A team could’ve easily just given up at that point.”

The ISU running game also impressed Fry. “That little guy Troy Davis did a great job today,” Fry said. Davis finished with 152 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.

The Iowa defense did allow Davis to get his yards, but they played a solid game, Fry said. “I couldn’t believe how dominant our defense was in the first half,” Fry said. “Allowing only 13 points for the game was great.”

The Cyclones were held to under 300 yards of total offense, including only 125 yards through the air. The defense also stopped ISU on all 13 of their third down plays.

Although the media hyped up the homecoming of McCarney, few words were exchanged between the two coaches. “I parked myself at the 50-yard line with my linemen, but Dan was involved with his own players,” Fry said.

What was said after the game? “I hope you win the rest of ’em,” Fry said to McCarney.

“You’ve got a real good team,” McCarney replied.

“We didn’t have a lot of time to talk,” Fry added.

Fry was happy to continue Iowa’s winning streak against ISU. “We got to play a lot of people today,” Fry said.

“Number 14, it feels pretty good.”