Iowa State’s 42-23 victory over the University of Northern Iowa Saturday left UNI Head Football Coach Terry Allen wishing he could play ISU again.

While Allen gave respect to the Cyclones, he also blamed the loss on lack of execution of which Allen believes his team is capable.

“Give credit to ISU. They are obviously a much improved team,” Allen said. “But there were a lot of ifs, ands or buts. The toughest one was the fourth down where we thought we were in the end zone, but we weren’t and that’s how it goes. It’s just frustrating because we could have done some things better that would have made us more competitive. I’m not saying we would have won by any means. But we could have been more competitive. We needed to gain momentum and we didn’t get the big plays.”

Allen also said although the loss was tough, it was not his team’s biggest game.

“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. We have the people in place to compete for national championship. It’s just disappointing. We had one goal coming down here, and that was to win,” Allen said.

One thing Allen and company wish they could have done better was stop Cyclone tailback Troy Davis, who ran the ball 53 times for 241 yards and five touchdowns.

“Troy Davis is an outstanding football player. I knew he had great change in direction, but his strength surprised me. There were times where he moved the pile,” Allen said.

“There were times where we had people in the right place to stop him, where we did the right things, but they still couldn’t stop him. That’s because he’s better than most backs. I’ve had nothing but respect for Troy Davis since the first time I watched him play.

Unfortunately, I had to watch him carry the ball 53 times.”

Saturday’s game was the end of a long standing football tradition in Iowa. The Cyclones victory marked the end of the UNI-ISU rivalry.

Despite losing two of the last three intrastate games, ISU won the series with a 14-3-3 career record over the rival Panthers.

“It’s too bad that this series has to come to an end. This is a great atmosphere for football. Over the years there has been some great competition. It’s just a great series for the people,” Allen said. “The people had a great first half to watch. Nobody punted, kickoffs almost going for touchdowns, a lot of offense. It’s great. It’s just too bad that it has to come to an end.”