Kansas
5 numbers that stood out in Iowa State football’s win vs Kansas
Rocco Becht breaks down Iowa State football’s win over Kansas
Hear from Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht on the Cyclones’ win over Kansas.
AMES — Iowa State football won its second straight game on Nov. 22.
The Cyclones took down Kansas, 38-14, in the final home game of the season, two weeks after beating TCU (which was followed by an off week). Matt Campbell’s squad now sits at 7-4 overall and 4-4 against Big 12 opponents.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of Iowa State’s win over the Jayhawks.
1 … as in Aiden Flora’s first rushing touchdown of the season
There were plenty of big moments in Iowa State’s victory over Kansas, with 15 plays accounting for 293 offensive yards gained. And it was a group effort in the ground game: Carson Hansen with 120 rushing yards (and one touchdown), Abu Sama with 67 yards and Flora with 51.
Flora, a redshirt freshman running back who typically serves as a kick and punt returner, put the exclamation point on Iowa State’s win, running 38 yards into the end zone for the Cyclones’ fifth touchdown of the game. He had a punt-return touchdown in the win against TCU.
2 … as in Iowa State has won two straight games
The Cyclones have experienced a series of streaks this year: five wins, four losses and now two wins. Iowa State beat TCU on the road a couple of weeks ago and – coming off the bye week – the Cyclones took down Kansas in the final game at Jack Trice Stadium this season.
3 … as in three penalties called against Iowa State
The Cyclones played a mostly penalty-free game, in contrast to some of their flag-filled contests this season. There were only three penalties called against Iowa State: false start against Jim Bonifas, holding against Brendan Black and pass interference against Marcus Neal.
Of those calls, two came in the third quarter and one came in the fourth, and they cost the Cyclones 30 yards in total.
7 … as in seven passes broken up by Iowa State’s defense
Kansas couldn’t get much of anything going on offense, with the Cyclones defense making it a challenge. Seven different players accounted for the seven pass break-ups: Carson Van Dinter, Kooper Ebel, Tre Bell, David Coffey, Quentin Taylor, Beni Ngoyi and Hunter Sowell.
Marcus Neal also came down with an interception, his second of the season.
10 … as in Rocco Becht went 10-of-10 to start the game
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Iowa State quarterback, and that was evident in Becht’s performance against Kansas. He completed his first 10 pass attempts, going without an incompletion through the first quarter and into the second quarter.
That streak snapped when Leroy Harris III tipped a pass and Becht threw two more incompletions – with another one broken up, this time by Trey Lathan – on the final drive of the second quarter.
Becht finished with a 78% completion rate, going 18-of-23 for 241 yards and three touchdowns – with no interceptions.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.