It was a little less ugly as usual, but if you tune in to the Cy-Hawk annually because of your phobia of touchdowns, you were in the right place once again.
The Iowa State defense held strong all game and Kyle Konrardy did it again, making another 54-yard field goal to clinch a Cy-Hawk game. The Cyclones got one last stop and Matt Campbell ended things with his now patented red zone mercy kneel to end a 16-13 win.
Well, a little ugly
Just because it was not as ugly does not mean the beautiful rivalry was not at all ugly. I am certain Cyclone fans got horrible 2019 flashbacks on the game’s first mistake was made on the Hawkeye special, a punt. A defender collided with return man Xavier Townsend who could not corral the punt and Iowa recovered. Officials initially called a penalty for interfering with a fair catch; however, ruled Iowa was blocked into the return man by a Cyclone.
Thankfully, as an out of state student that did not arrive on campus until 2020, the flashbacks do not send as big of a shiver down my spine.
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The Cy-Hawk game is usually about as ugly as when the family steps onto the field after polishing off their plates at Thanksgiving. This year, it was less sloppy but just as defensive.
The Iowa State defense was tasked with holding the Hawkeyes to a field goal or keeping them scoreless in a pinch throughout, and they stood tall nearly every time. For the third year out of four, the Cyclones won the Ugly Bowl.
Twenty-one points is a tough number to come by in the series, with the total being reached just once since 2017 in a 27-17 Iowa win back in 2021.
The Timeout
When Seneca Wallace’s “The Run: happened it was the talk of the town and is still remembered annually today. What if I told you we should do the same for Campbell’s “The Timeout.” On third and short near midfield during the first quarter with a 3-0 lead, what I thought was well-drawn screen play was absolutely blown to smithereens by the Hawkeye linebackers.
While I am not sure how it went down in the stadium, us television viewers saw the play as well as the replay before the announcers realized Campbell turned into Superman and flew down the sideline to call a timeout. The Cyclones again kicked a field goal on the drive that would be the difference in the final score. A punt could have changed everything.
He was already going to get a statue one day, but I am here to start the petition that the statue is of him signalling for a timeout in this Cy-Hawk game.
Huge pair of Konrardys
We are not going to ignore Konrardy etching his name into Iowa State history, yet we are going to hold off because there is a drive to talk about first.
Just about everyone is high on Offensive Coordinator Taylor Mouser these days, but who knew he had this type of play call in him. A 3rd-and-4 pass torched to Townsend went off his hand and right to the trusty Tight End Gabe Burkle to keep the drive alive. Townsend deserves some praise too for somehow deflecting the ball directly to the one receiver in a flock of Hawks.
Burkle was not done on the drive as a midfield third and two brought out the Rocco Becht special, a fake quarterback run up the middle into a flopper pass to a tight end. This flopper was not the best flopper Becht ever flopped, leaving Burkle to pull a 180-degree spin-o-rama one-handed grab. Just a day that ends in ‘y’ for Burkle though.
That’s when the time came. Konrardy stepped onto the field with just under two minutes to play in a 13-13 game to attempt a 54-yard field goal. With the way the Iowa offense was moving it seemed the kick would be for the game.
I swear my couch levitates off the ground these days when Konrardy comes in the game, potentially from his powerful presence, or maybe my couch just needs to stand up for the big moments like I do. Cyclones fans had their horrible flashbacks early in the game, now it was the turn of Iowa fans. Konrardy ended the previous Cy-Hawk game with a 54-yard field goal. Of course, 54-yards is chump change these days for Konrardy who can kick from 10-yards further out, so he made the chip shot. Becht said it best, Konrardy has “balls of steel.”
His success level will determine a handful of results down the road.
Konrardy was spotted playing popular mobile game Clash Royale on social media after the game. Well deserved young man.
As favorable a schedule there can be
How many teams can get their two major rivalry games out of the way three games in. They were both not Beethoven’s ninth symphony levels of perfection, but the job is done nonetheless. Now the Cyclones can just play regular football with no more hatred spewing for a while. Take a breath, Cyclone fans.
Kansas State appears to stink and it is too early to detect the stench level of Iowa, yet rivalry wins are tough to come by regardless.
The Big 12 standings are starting to take shape, and it appears no more rivalries is not the only benefit of the remaining schedule. Utah and Texas Tech, two of the teams that look to be conference contenders, do not even appear on the Iowa State schedule. They do, however, appear on each other’s schedules in the conference opener, so the Cyclones can get an early leg up on one of them on the road to Arlington.
