With the Cyclones’ 45-13 victory in Provo, Utah, they became bowl-eligible and did so with some impressive offense and a bounce-back performance by their defense.
Iowa State now sits with two games left against a pair of top-25 teams, at home against Texas and on the road against Kansas State, but with four wins in their last five affairs, look to have momentum going into the end of the regular season.
Although the win against BYU was mostly a ‘get right game’ for the Cyclones, the production of the offense and the return of Iowa State’s trusty defense that held its sixth opponent this season to under 20 points.
The Cyclones have exceeded many preseason expectations by becoming bowl-eligible, but to go a step even further and keep conference championship hopes alive, they will need aspects in the win against BYU to carry over into their final two regular season games.
Season-best performance on the ground
To the tune of 234 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns, Iowa State found success throughout the game against the Cougars, who have allowed the second most yards on the ground against conference opponents. The Cyclones kept their run game consistent and had over 100 rushing yards in each half.
The running back by-committee mentality of the running back room was on full display with the trio of Cartevious Norton, Eli Sanders and most notably Abu Sama III combining for 209 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Sama headlined the backfield with his career day of 110 rushing yards and two touchdowns, highlighted by his 59-yard house call in the third quarter.
The success of the run game came from the combination of offensive linemen opening up holes, absorbing their blocks and the running backs making defenders miss in space. The trio of running backs each broke off a run for 15 or more yards and averaged a combined nine yards per carry.
Turnovers made their return
The Cyclone defense was coming off of a game against Kansas where they failed to force a turnover, an area where they were among the best of the Big 12. Right from the start of the BYU game, they looked determined to make up for the big plays they allowed against the Jayhawks and get back to creating more opportunities for their offense.
True freshman defensive back Drew Surges set the tone for his big night when he punched the ball out of the BYU return man’s hands on the opening kickoff which the Cougars quickly jumped back on.
Things would not get better for BYU on the next possession when quarterback Jake Retzlaff rolled to the right and sailed a ball into the hands of linebacker Will McLaughlin for the Cyclones’ first turnover since their win against Baylor.
On the following BYU drive, Iowa State forced another fumble on the opening kickoff which linebacker Caleb Bacon scooped up and put the offense on the Cougars’ 17-yard line.
The Cyclones found themselves up 10-0 early in the first quarter thanks to a pair of forced mistakes by the Cougars.
An interception in the fourth quarter by true freshman Jamison Patton, the first of his collegiate career, was the final big play by the Cyclone defense. That late interception by the Iowa native was the 12th pick forced by the Cyclone defense against conference opponents, which is the most in the Big 12.
Efficient play from Becht
Although Iowa State relied on their run game, which was a rare occasion, they also counted on quarterback Rocco Becht to make plays when called upon, and the young signal caller was dialed in.
Becht was responsible for converting all six of the Cyclones’ third down conversions in the first half, two of which were completions for 15 yards and led to scoring drives. He finished the first half with 11 completions on 15 attempts, for 108 yards and a touchdown to wide receiver Jaylin Noel.
After a game against Kansas where the offense did not come alive until the first half, partially due to the play of Becht, the redshirt freshman got back to taking care of the football and led the offense to seven scoring drives.
Becht finished the game completing 65% of his passes, his third time doing so against Big 12 opponents, along with 203 passing yards and a pair of passing touchdowns. Through his first 10 games as a starter, he has over 2,000 passing yards and 18 total touchdowns to seven interceptions.
Redzone and first-half lockdown
Outside of forcing turnovers at the bookend marks of the game, the Iowa State defense forced punts on the Cougars’ final three drives of the half and held them to 97 total yards.
Even when BYU found success between the 20-yard lines, the Cyclone defense stayed strong with their backs against the wall. They allowed one score on the Cougars’ three trips to the redzone, despite giving up seven plays for over 15 yards.
While the BYU offense is not known for finding much success on offense this season, the Iowa State defense needed a game to reestablish its ‘bend but do not break’ mentality which they achieved.
