IOWA CITY, Iowa — A good, old-fashioned bare-knuckle fistfight of a football game took place at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday afternoon. 

Defense reigned on both sides of the field, with the total offensive yardage gained by both teams falling under the 500-yard mark (459). 

Defense kept Iowa State in the game before the Hawkeyes ultimately dug deep and defeated the Cyclones, 13-3, to win a fourth-straight meeting between the in-state rivals. 

The Cyclones were strong from the get-go, holding their lines multiple times with their backs against the wall. The field position battle, so crucial in games where the margin between the two teams is so slim, was won overwhelmingly by the Hawkeyes. 

Time after time, whether due to a poor punt from sophomore Corey Dunn (who had a very hot-and-cold debut) or a well-placed punt from Iowa junior Colten Rastetter, the Cyclones found themselves up against it. The Hawkeyes had two possessions in the first half that began inside the Iowa State 30-yard-line, and started a drive inside their own 10 only once. The Hawkeyes started seven drives at their own 30-yard-line or better; Iowa State only had one such drive. 

That meant the Cyclones’ defense often had to buckle down immediately in order to keep the scoreboard clean. 

“That was rough,” said redshirt senior defensive back D’Andre Payne. “We just had to keep playing each and every play.”

In the first half, Iowa State held its own, holding Iowa to a solitary field goal and 73 yards of total offense. Despite the Cyclones only mustering 17 net rushing yards in the first 30 minutes, they were still in the game. 

“Whether they wore down or not, they gave us every opportunity to win the football game,” coach Matt Campbell said postgame. “Those guys never quit.”

They were still in it until the Cyclones’ defensive resistance finally broke down with 4:47 to play in the game. A 2-yard touchdown from sophomore running back Mekhi Sargent broke the Cyclones’ back and pushed the Hawkeyes’ lead to an eventually insurmountable 13-3 scoreline.

Iowa State’s veteran unit had nothing left to give.

Redshirt sophomore tight end Chase Allen said postgame that the Cyclones’ offense was disappointed they could not reward the defense for their efforts. 

“When you look at some of the stops that our defense was able to make where we gave them field position on their side of the 50, it’s really impressive,” Allen said. “That is one thing that kind of eats at us as an offense.”

True freshman middle linebacker Mike Rose led the Cyclones in tackles in his first full game with 11 and was a surprising star for a defense that had major question marks at the position heading into Saturday’s contest. 

He was the talk of Iowa State social media during the contest and the talk of the Cyclones postgame. Junior linebacker Marcel Spears Jr. was effusive in his praise of Rose despite the sour result.

“Fast learner, he just wants to be great,” Spears Jr. said.

Rose’s performance was just one of many positive moments from the Iowa State defense, despite the defeat and despite not creating any turnovers. 

There were multiple missed chances by the Cyclones to get the ball back and change the momentum, but Spears wasn’t interested in hearing them. 

“Woulda, coulda, shoulda, it’s in the past now,” Spears Jr. said.

The Cyclones were at times dominant on defense, and often a problem that Iowa’s offense couldn’t solve.

But the field position disparity —Iowa’s average starting field position was at its own 39, 17 yards better than Iowa State’s — and an Iowa gameplan that is built to lean on the opponent until it falls over rendered their performance moot.