The hands were dealt and Iowa State had a great one. A chance to go 6-0 over the first half of the regular season was on the line, but Murphy’s Law struck in the first half, and everything that could have gone wrong did just that.
A strong Cincinnati team took it to the Cyclones early, and a second half troop rallying was not enough in a 38-30 Cyclone loss on the road to fall to 5-1.
What goes up, must come down
As much flack as Iowa State has caught for the defense not coming alive until the second half in recent years, this year had been a different story. Coming in, Iowa State has won the first quarter in each of the five games, outscoring opponents at a whopping 44-7 clip. The lone score came on South Dakota’s opening drive, a hole the Cyclones swiftly patched in a 55-7 win.
Against Cincinnati though, the Bearcats clung to a 17-0 lead after one quarter of play. Cincinnati’s opening drive was nothing short of the parting of the Red Sea. The Bearcats met little friction, which was capped with a 30-yard run by Evan Pryor without a Cyclone laying a finger on him. Holding the Bearcats to a field goal on their second drive was seen as a win; however, when you give up another touchdown the drive after that, the win is not too meaningful.
There were still plenty of mistakes the rest of the way, yet they outscored Cincinnati over the final three frames. All that is needed is to find that life again on both sides of the ball from the opening kick.
Fortunately for Iowa State, the slow starts have not become a recurring theme. A lot of factors could have gone into it including the game being at 11 a.m. on the road, preparing for something different than Cincinnati brought to the table or just a great script of plays. Whatever it was, it made for the perfect recipe of a tough watch.
Sometimes after a loss it can be difficult to put into perspective that this was the Cyclones’ second 30-point game in a row and the offense is finding a rhythm when they avoid mistakes.
Connections forming
Through rounds of head trauma the Cyclone offense was taking from huge hits, quarterback Rocco Becht showed continually growing connections with sophomore Brett Eskildsen, junior Chase Sowell and six-foot-seven junior Benjamin Brahmer.
It is important for the three to continue to have big games, as they each play very different roles. Eskildsen has consistently topped the receiving charts this year, snagging eight balls for 105 yards and a touchdown Saturday. He does a little bit of everything with deep, medium and short routes, which makes him somewhat of a Swiss Army Knife.
Sowell is a guy that has that x-factor ability for game-changing catches. It really took him some time to get going, but after146 yards against Arizona and five catches for 58 yards and a score against Cincinnati, it looks like he may have arrived. Sowell just missed a wild one-handed snatch early.
Head Coach Matt Campbell said it was clear during the preseason practices just how talented Sowell is. It was only a matter of time before the fans got to catch a glimpse.
Brahmer is the red zone threat, and he had three catches for 48 yards on the day. Notably, Brahmer made two great catches on two-point conversions.
Becht went 30-48 on the day, tossing for 314 yards, throwing two scores and running in two more. While he missed some throws on the day, if he can continue relying on those three as well as the deep supporting cast, this offense can keep putting up 30-point games.
Next man up
I could talk your ear off about the injuries for yet another week, but what stuck out Saturday was the impressiveness of some of these players that were afterthoughts weeks ago. Redshirt freshman defensive back Quentin Taylor Jr. looked great, making two tackles for a loss and playing tight coverage on some balls that fell incomplete.
When you send a three-man rush in your base defense, you need the defensive backs to be versatile in order to collapse on runs and hold coverage for a long time on pass plays. Taylor showed flashes of how special a player he can be for the Cyclones in the years to come. Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby had a lot of time to throw for most of the game, but Taylor held his own to go along with the five total tackles.
Offensively it had been a while since Abu Sama III was getting the vast majority of the running back carries, and he showed he can still get it done. On the day, Sama took 18 carries for 96 yards, an average of 5.3 yards per carry after Carson Hansen missed the second half with a concussion.
Right the ship
After a loss it is always important to get back into the win column before the losses start to stack up. Iowa State has a great opportunity to do that at 2:30 Saturday on the road against Colorado. The Buffs are 2-4 on the year with the wins coming against Wyoming and Delaware. It was always going to be a rebuilding year for Colorado, and Iowa State needs to be amped up to take down a team hungry for a Big 12 win.
Expect an early shot down field on the opening drive to attempt to suck the life out of the home crowd and set the tone.
A taste of Ames in Houston
My lone honorable mention of the day is the Cyclone receiving trio on the Houston Texans. Xavier Hutchinson caught his first two career NFL touchdowns on the same day Sunday against the Ravens, and Jaylin Noel caught his first to join him. Jayden Higgins held his own with four catches for 32 yards, and he scored his first career touchdown a week ago against the Titans.
Noel even broke out the Ray Lewis celebration, which was not well received in Baltimore.
The game also featured Charlie Kolar, Jake Hummel and T.J. Tampa on the Ravens’ side.
