Iowa State Rally Takes Down Hawkeyes

Iowa Relinquishes 13-Point Halftime Lead

Iowa State players celebrate with the Cy-Hawk trophy after defeating Iowa Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kyle Konrardy’s field goal sailed over the territory where the game was lost for Iowa, long before Konrardy’s 54-yard kick gave Iowa State a 20-19 win over No. 21 Iowa on Saturday.

The kick with six seconds left touched off a wild celebration for the Cyclones (2-0), who won for only the third time in the last 11 games of this in-state rivalry, and piled fuel on the lament of the Hawkeyes (1-1), who anguished over the missed opportunities at the south end of Kinnick Stadium.

There were the two first-and-goals in the second quarter, one from the Iowa State 1-yard line and another from the Cyclones’ 3, that ended up as Drew Stevens field goals instead of touchdowns.

There was the two-point conversion attempt in the third quarter, when the Hawkeyes led 19-7. Cade McNamara’s pass fell incomplete, a play that grew into a monster of second-guessing when Konrardy’s kick won the game instead of only tied it had Iowa just not kicked the extra point.

“It’s going to hurt for a while,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said, and he was right.

“Everybody’s hurt, everybody’s frustrated,” said running back Kaleb Johnson, whose 187-yard, two-touchdown game went from the big story to asterisk in the 28 seconds it took quarterback Rocco Becht to drive 42 yards on three pass completions to set up Konrardy’s kick.

Iowa led 13-0 at halftime and it felt like it could have been more, not just to Ferentz but to Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, who said he felt his team was “teetering on the edge” the entire game.

Threes instead of sevens wasn’t exactly ideal when trying to vanquish a rival that had an ability to erupt, even with Iowa’s defense.

“It’s a couple of missed opportunities,” Ferentz said, “and they came back and got us a little bit.”

“I really felt that was the game,” Campbell said. “When we were able to make those stands down there, I thought, man, we can get the momentum going our way in the second half.”

And so the Cyclones did, especially when Cade McNamara’s pass early in the third quarter was intercepted by Iowa State’s Darien Porter.

The eruption that came from the Cyclones’ sideline was almost from relief, that on a day that started with little going right was going to change.

Nine plays and 75 yards later, Iowa State scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Becht to Jayden Higgins.

The Hawkeyes had an answer — 7 plays, 79 yards, a 3-yard touchdown run by Johnson, the second of the day. Then came Ferentz’s decision to go for two, because a 21-7 lead would have put the Cyclones in a two-touchdown scenario.

“I think the debate would be is it too early, that type of thing,” Ferentz said. “I thought it gave us our best chance to win the football game.”

The Cyclones then put their response into the debate when Becht threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Jaylin Noel right on the first play after getting the ball back.

Iowa State’s defense then clamped down on the Hawkeyes, forcing three consecutive three-and-outs as part of a five-possession stretch to close the game in which Iowa had just 23 yards.

“They made it tough on us,” Ferentz said of the Cyclones. “And we probably missed some plays.”

McNamara, so good last week in the 40-0 win over Illinois State, was just 13-of-29 for 99 yards and two interceptions, the first one to Porter that ignited the Cyclones and the last one to Porter on the final play of the game.

“Ultimately, we couldn’t overcome our setbacks,” McNamara said. “This hurts.

“A lot.”

Konrardy overcame his lone setback of the game, missing a 41-yard field-goal attempt in the Cyclones’ best opportunity to score in the first half.

“You’ve got to focus not on the mistakes, but focus on what’s next,” he said. “Part of it was just not even think about the mistake, but focus on what I could do now.”

His approach?

“Not think,” Konrardy said. “That’s it. Just go out there and not think and just do what you do.”

Ferentz was still thinking about the Hawkeyes’ misses after the game.

“Having the ball inside the 5, we need to come away with touchdowns, because it’s like walking the guy in the ninth inning in baseball — usually that comes back and gets you,” he said. “It’s amazing how that goes.”