AMES – The Iowa State football season opener was an odd one. It took just 38 seconds for the Cyclones to score its first touchdown of the season, en route to a 21-3 win over North Dakota.

North Dakota’s offense was on the field for nearly 38 minutes, including a drive that went for 23 plays and over 12 minutes which resulted in a field goal for the Fighting Hawks. It was the longest drive by an FBS team since 2014. Iowa State was on offense for just over 22 minutes and managed to find the endzone three times.

“Just a weird game, honestly,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said. “I thought what did go well was, in the heat of the moment, when it came to a critical moment, we were able to win those battles.”

A play-action pass opened the day for the Cyclones, and redshirt sophomore quarterback Rocco Becht found senior wide receiver Jaylin Noel in double coverage for a 54-yard gain. One play later, Becht lofted a pass in front of the student section to a wide-open wide receiver Jayden Higgins for a 21-yard score.

On the opening play, Noel said he knew he had to make a play. He added that Becht trusted him to make the catch, and he did it.

“When a quarterback has trust in you to put that ball up there in double coverage, then it’s obviously for a reason,” Noel said. “I wanted him to feel like he can do that whenever he needs to.”

The one-two punch of Noel and Higgins was expected to be the main attack of Iowa State’s offense, and it was. Noel finished the first game of his senior year with 135 yards on eight catches, and Higgins had five catches for 75 yards.

Campbell and Noel each credited Becht for his performance. Becht finished 20-for-26 passing for 267 yards and two touchdowns.

“His poise out there kept the whole offense poised,” Noel said. “Some drives didn’t end how we wanted to, but he was still on the sideline making sure guys were good, ready to go.”

Both Higgins and Noel had one touchdown. Noel’s came in the opening minute, and Higgins’ was in the final minute of the first half.

Aside from those two, Eli Green was the only other receiver to see a lot of action. Green caught four passes for 44 yards and was targeted seven times in his first game as a Cyclone. A screen pass for 22 yards was his biggest play of the game.

“I thought he made some really nice plays,” Campbell said. “You gotta have great ball security, and I don’t feel like he had great ball security today, but it’s nice to see him make some great plays.”

It took until the third quarter for Beni Ngoyi to get his first and only catch, which went for 10 yards and a first down. Ngoyi had one catch last season, and though his first game of 2024 was not the best, it showed promise that he can be a contributor to Iowa State’s offense.

In the backfield, sophomore Abu Sama III hurdled a North Dakota defender on his first carry of the season. The 16-yard run would be the last big play for the Cyclones for a while. 

“I have no issues with hurdles, as long as you can jump like that,” Campbell said. “I don’t think many people can jump like [Sama].”

Sama finished his season debut with 36 yards on five carries after exiting with an injury. Sama did exit under his own power. From there sophomore Carson Hansen took the reins as the lead back. He had six carries for 20 yards.

After Sama executed the hurdle, the offense had trouble moving, and North Dakota slowed the pace down. The slowed pace came as a result of Cyclone linebacker Caleb Bacon exiting due to a knee injury and lasted until the late stages of the second quarter.

“We don’t know a lot about [Bacon’s condition] right now,” Campbell said. “We’re hoping it’s not significant.”

Once the offense got back on the field after the long North Dakota drive, three minutes remained before halftime. That was plenty of time for Becht to throw his second touchdown of the game, this time on a 21-yard slant to Noel.

Though the Cyclones did not find the endzone in the third, they drove down the field through the air. Higgins had another 21-yard touchdown, but an illegal formation penalty wiped it off the board. A matter of plays later, Becht forced his way in on a quarterback sneak to cap off a 12-play, 96-yard drive that lasted nearly seven minutes.

“I trust my offensive line,” Becht said. “I knew we were gonna get that in just because of the guys we have up front.”

From there, Iowa State held onto the 18-point lead to win its season opener. 

Up next, Iowa State travels to Iowa City, Iowa, to face the Hawkeyes in another edition of the Cy-Hawk rivalry.