Iowa State Head Football Coach Dan McCarney was on cloud nine after the Cyclones’ 36-21 victory over Ohio. While McCarney was pleased with his team’s overall effort, three players stood out in the victory. ISU running back Troy Davis, freshman kicker Jamie Kohl and back-up quarterback Jeff St. Clair proved their worth as each player rose to the occasion on Thursday.

Davis, who played his first full game as a starter, proved to be the spark plug in the Cyclones’ offensive engine. Davis rushed for 291 yards on 40 carries to break ISU’s all-time single game rushing record.

“I can’t remember the last time [running performance] was quite that good. I’ve seen a lot of them,” McCarney said. “Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of backs get a lot of yards against my defense, but I don’t remember any one running back that was better than that. I just thought he was sensational.”

While Davis’s performance impressed Cyclone fans, Davis remained confident in his ability to perform at that level.

“Just give me the ball and I’ll take it to another level. I came to the line and said just block and I’ll take it the distance,” Davis said. “I could see that they were getting tired. They kept trying to arm tackle me. You can’t stop me with an arm tackle.

“I had a dream last night that I had 300 yards. The dream didn’t come true, but I was close to it.”

Freshman Kohl proved to be the future of ISU football at the place kicker position. Kohl kicked field goals of 26, 37 and 42 yards to aid the Cyclone cause.

Kohl credited his success Thursday night to perfect execution by the specialty teams.

“My holder and my snapper did a great job all night. When you miss it, it’s the kicker. If you make it, it’s the kicker too. But without those guys it couldn’t have happened,” Kohl said.

Todd Doxzon, who suffered a sprained ankle earlier in the week, was forced to sit out the home opener. Back-up quarterback Jeff St. Clair stepped in to lead the ISU offensive charge. While St. Clair’s numbers were not staggering, his leadership proved to be a key factor.

“St. Clair stepped in as reserve, he’s played some in the past. I can’t say enough about him. He stepped in as a reserve and ran the offense. I don’t care about statistics. The character he showed was just fantastic. He did a tremendous job,” McCarney said.

The victory was capped off with fireworks and members of the crowd tearing down the north goal post.

“We have a chance here to have something real special between the football team and the students,” McCarney said. “It was really neat. We felt the students and we felt the fans tonight. I don’t feel bad at all that Gene [Smith] has to go buy a damn new goal post.”