Sep 7, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones place kicker Kyle Konrardy (97) reacts with teammates after kicking a game-winning 54 yard field goal late during the fourth quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
IOWA CITY — “Not think.”
Those anxiety-easing words accompany Iowa State’s first-year starting placekicker Kyle Konrardy onto the field each time he aims to split the uprights.
So when he strode onto the Kinnick Stadium turf to attempt a potentially game-winning 54-yard field goal with nine seconds left Saturday against No. 21 Iowa, the redshirt freshmen didn’t flinch. Instead, the walk-on from Dubuque delivered an almost walk-off win in the Cyclones’ stunning 20-19 comeback before a slack-jawed crowd of 69,250.
“Just got to do my job,” said Konrardy, who helped ISU (2-0) overcome a 13-0 halftime deficit and notch their second win in the past nine meetings with the Hawkeyes. “We talk about practicing and performing all the time, so I went out there like I practiced and we performed.”
“Wow,” went the mutters in the press box as Konrardy’s kick crept through the uprights with six seconds remaining, capping a scant 28-second scoring drive. And — whoa — the Hawkeyes still clung to a last-gasp hope with one second left. But Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara’s Hail Mary attempt from the ISU 49 was intercepted by Cyclone senior cornerback Darien Porter, who slid to a stop and raised his arms in jubilation.
“It’s a great feeling, especially in a game like this that means so much to all of us,” Porter said. “It feels good to positively impact the game in multiple different ways.”
It was Porter’s second interception of the day — and the first one was equally significant.
Iowa (1-1) appeared poised to effectively seal the game early in the second half, but Porter picked off McNamara at ISU’s 25-yard line to keep hope alive. Then Cyclone quarterback Rocco Becht, in turn, finally gave his offense life.
Becht racked up 205 of his game-high 272 receiving yards in the second half while guiding ISU to a pair of touchdowns after the break. His first touchdown pass — a three-yarder to Jayden Higgins — came right after Porter’s first interception and made the score 13-7. His second — a 75-yarder to Jaylin Noel — made the score 19-14 and set the stage for two Konrardy field goals in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference.
“I told him right before he walked out there that this is just like practice,” said Becht, who connected with Noel on two passes spanning 40 yards that set the stage for Konrardy’s heroics. “Because he hits those all the time in practice and he has no doubt. So I just tried to clear his mind and make it seem like it was practice and he got the job done for us.”
So did Noel, who caught five passes for a game-high 133 yards, and Higgins, who caught a game-best eight passes for 68 yards.
“It means a lot,” said Noel, who also played a key role in the Cyclones’ 10-7 win at Kinnick two years ago. “Just a testament to my teammates, really, not quitting. Coming back — we’re down 13-0 coming out — and there was never any sense of quit at all.”
Iowa, meanwhile, left points on the field despite building leads of 13-0 and 19-7. Running back Kaleb Johnson enjoyed a banner day, amassing 187 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.
McNamara completed 13 of his 29 passes for 99 yards. Iowa averaged 5.4 yards per play in the first half, but just 3.5 yards per play in the second. Standout linebacker Jay Higgins picked off Becht at the Cyclones’ 12-yard line late in the first quarter, but the Hawkeyes settled for one of two Drew Stevens’ first-half field goals despite the prime field position.
“Both teams had opportunities,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Credit to them for fighting back the way they did. But, yeah, they all sting first of all. I guess given the choice between losing a game like this or just getting blown out — I think I’d rather be in a competitive game. But it hurts, regardless.”
The Cyclones’ comeback was the program’s second-largest in the Cy-Hawk series, behind the Seneca Wallace-fueled 36-31 win in 2002. Becht, meanwhile, passed Wallace for seventh on ISU’s all-time touchdown passes chart with 27. And Konrardy — who missed a 41-yard field goal in the first half — etched his name in Cy-Hawk lore by not thinking and merely “performing.”
“I can’t coach kicking,” said Cyclone head coach Matt Campbell, who improved to 2-6 all-time against the Hawkeyes. “If somebody can, I’d love to see it. I can’t, but I can at least understand mentality. You have to have an elite craft, and that’s what Kyle’s shown.”
