Dublin, Ireland – Iowa State clutched in the fourth quarter with a 24-21 win over Kansas State in the 2025 Aer Lingus Classic, marking the first win of the college football season.
Iowa State and Kansas State battled it out on the gridiron to open up the college football season. Iowa State scored the first touchdown of the college season. From quarterback Rocco Becht’s 23-yard pass, to the right of the field, straight towards redshirt freshman wide receiver Dominic Overby for the first secured six points of the season.
With a slow first quarter, alongside a Cyclone touchdown, Iowa State spent the rest of its 45 minutes on the field harboring the Wildcats’ tactical defense, finding balance and securing successful plays on the fourth down.
Cyclones’ reliance on running game
As a common weather trait in Ireland is rain, there was no surprise that the conditions on the field were nothing but difficult compared to Ames.
Due to the weather conditions, many errors and mistakes occurred on the field, but were largely improved in the second half as the Cyclones relied more on short passes to ensure a clean and efficient pass.
“With the rain coming down, it was pretty hard to keep a good grip on the ball,” Becht said. “So we did a really good job of putting out plays that were short, short passes for me to get comfortable in the game.”
With three prominent rushers tallying up a total of 130 yards, junior running back Abu Sama III got the ball rolling in the first half with an ending total of 43 rushing yards by the end of the game.
Junior running back Carson Hansen continued the ball movement as he ended the game with the most rushing yards with 71.
Fourth down success
Throughout the team’s 74 plays, Iowa State continued to find success on fourth-downs, similar to its last-minute success in its previous season.
Iowa State went 3-for-3 on fourth downs compared to Kansas State’s 1-for-4.
“I think everybody has a sense of urgency that we’re going to win this game, and we’re going to pick the play, the big play that needs to be made,” Becht said. “I think that’s why we’re all together until the end.”
The Cyclones went for a 34-yard field goal by junior kicker Kyle Konrardy to gain a steady lead and provide confidence.
“Yeah, you know, it’s like if it works everybody feels really good about it, but the reality of it is they don’t have any more timeouts, a field goal may tie it,” Campbell said. “I just felt really confident that we had just done a great job on the last third conversion.”
Fourth quarter awakening
With first-game jitters, the slow and uneasy start was prominent in the first quarter, with four fumbles, two for each team. However, the struggle to hold on the the ball continued until the last 15 minutes of play.
In the fourth quarter, Iowa State secured its largest amount of receiving and rushing yards during the game with 147, contributing to the team’s overall total of 313.
“I think we got the game back to our rhythm. We were not in the best rhythm in the first half. But I think the offensive line battled today and we have a lot of faith in those guys,” Campbell said. “I think their ability to battle and not crumble because I have been a part of those games, where it goes south early and you do not have the confidence to work yourself through it.”
With offense thriving, Iowa State’s defense stood strong by creating a lack of plays for the Wildcats, as they only ran eight plays in the last 15 minutes. While doing so, holding Kansas State to zero rushing yards.
The Cyclones improved to 1-0 on the season after a messy, hard-fought game against No. 17 Kansas State. Iowa State will take the field in Ames against South Dakota at 2:30 on Saturday, August 30th for the team’s home opener.
