AMES — There were whoops, hollers and shrill victorious cries.
And why not? A 66-10 win in Big 12 play should provoke wild cheers from the Iowa State faithful who stuck around at Jack Trice Stadium.
The Cyclones had never scored 66 points in a conference game before — and Saturday they did it against a team that scored that many points against them last season.
“Not really trying to get back at someone,” ISU safety Kamari Cotton-Moya said. “We were just trying to play the game of football. Trying to play as a team. Trying to play together and play complete. I think today we played together.”
Revenge? Nah. Just another step forward. ISU’s won two games in a row for the first time since the end of the 2013 season.
Cotton-Moya gathered in the program’s first pick six (a 48-yarder) since Jeremy Reeves snared an opponent’s pass and ran it into the end zone in the 2012 Liberty Bowl.
Joel Lanning ran for a school record-tying five touchdowns. The Cyclones’ defense stood tall against the nation’s most productive offense.
But 66 … versus 66?
“Nobody did mention that, but ironically and fitting,” ISU coach Matt Campbell said. “They’re a great offense so they have the ability to do those kinds of things and that’s why you never feel comfortable in a game like this, because they can always come back. We certainly weren’t trying to run the score up by any stretch of the imagination, but just wanted to be efficient with our possessions.”