Throughout the week, all the talk has been about the annual CyHawk series. In the 69th meeting between the Iowa State Cyclones and the Iowa Hawkeyes, Iowa State traveled the 128 miles to Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.

It was Iowa State’s first appearance at Kinnick since 2018. With multiple highs and lows from both sides of the field in the pouring rain, the Iowa State Cyclones are coming home with the CyHawk trophy along with Matt Campbell’s first win against Iowa since becoming head coach.

Here are your three big takeaways from the Cyclone’s 10-7 win over the Hawkeyes.

Iowa’s first half

As the Cyclones started the game with the ball, quarterback Hunter Dekkers immediately found his other half, Xavier Hutchinson with a successful catch on the first play of the drive. The two had a strong bond in the season opener against SEMO with three touchdowns and multiple complete passes.

However, it was the Hawkeyes that seemed to take over the first half. Even with Iowa State having the ball to start, it was three and out after Dekkers was sacked by Iowa’s John Waggoner.

Immediately after came a blocked punt with Iowa receiving the ball in the red zone and getting their first touchdown of the season. It was a 9-yard touchdown by Leshon Williams.

The first half appeared to go back and forth between the two teams with interceptions and fumble recoveries from both sides. Iowa State’s Gerry Vaughn had a sac while Will McDonald recovered Iowa’s fumble. Additionally, on the other side, Iowa State’s Jirehl Brock fumbled the ball going into the end zone.

With minutes left in the third quarter came another Iowa fumble. Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, the fumble occurred inside the end zone’s one-yard line. While O’Rien Vance forced the fumble, Kendell Jackson was there to recover the ball.

As for interceptions, it was back to back. After a thrilling interception from the Cyclones Colby Reeder, Dekkers first pass back with the ball was intercepted by Iowa’s Cooper Dejean. Minutes into the third quarter came a second interception for Dekkers when his pass was picked off by the Hawkeyes Terry Roberts.

Although the Cyclones seemed to trail behind, they still gained much more yardage and time of possession than the Hawkeyes. Iowa State ended with 313 total yards while Iowa had 150.

However, no more than three points were put on the board for the Cyclones in the first half giving Iowa a 7-3 lead.

Hutchinson stands out

It is safe to say that Hutchison stood out in the first game of the season against SEMO with three touchdowns and 128 receiving yards. Nonetheless, he seemed to do it again against the Hawkeyes. At halftime, Hutchinson had seven receptions for 70 yards and finished with 11 receptions for 90 yards.

Hutchinson was quieter in the second half but was still around to make catches for his team. His eighth catch of the day didn’t occur until minutes left in the third quarter.

After close to an hour with no scoring in the second half, the Cyclones delivered a 99-yard drive and received their first touchdown of the game by Hutchinson allowing Iowa State to take the lead.

While it took some time, Jirehl Brock made his appearance as well. After finishing with 104 rushing yards against SEMO, Brock looked to do it again against Iowa as he had 100 rushing yards and 18 receiving yards with five receptions.

Although the offense is typically the side of the field to score the points, it’s important not to forget about those stopping the opponent from scoring.

Iowa State’s O’Rien Vance led the defense in tackles with Myles Purchase not far behind. Iowa’s defense, on the other hand, stood out tremendously with 89 total tackles compared to Iowa State’s 42. Even with fumble recoveries and interceptions, the Iowa defense stayed tough and persistent.

The streak has ended

With a six-game losing streak against the Hawkeyes, that streak has finally ended for Iowa State. Iowa State had not won a game against Iowa since 2014.

With a strong first half from Iowa came a strong second half. Nonetheless, Iowa State looked to settle in and continued to make their way down the field even if that meant struggling to put up points at times.

However, even with Hutchinson’s touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Iowa still hoped to come out on top. With a field goal to put the game into overtime, the field goal was missed giving Iowa State what they’ve been looking for all these years.

Iowa State will return home to Ames next Saturday to face Ohio in hopes to put their record to 3-0.