Iowa State rallies to upset rival Iowa thanks to last-second kick
Kyle Konrardy made a 54-yard field goal with six seconds left to give Iowa State a 20-19 victory over No. 21 Iowa on Saturday, only the Cyclones' third victory in the last 11 games against the Hawkeyes.
Konrardy, who had missed a 41-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter, got his chance when the Cyclones (2-0) drove 42 yards on three pass completions from quarterback Rocco Becht after getting the ball at their own 22 with 34 seconds remaining.
âYouâve got to focus, not on the mistakes, but focus on whatâs next,â Konrardy said. âPart of it was just not even think about the mistake, but focus on what I could do now.â
The key, Konrardy said, was ânot think.â
âThat's it,â he said. âJust go out there and not think and just do what you do.â
Asked if he was able to do that, Konrardy smiled and said, âYes sir.â
âIt's just like practice,â Becht said. âHe hits those all of the time in practice. He has no doubt.â
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Iowa (1-1) got a 35-yard return from Max White on the ensuing kickoff and had time for one play, but Cade McNamaraâs pass was intercepted by Darien Porter.
The Hawkeyes led 19-7 with 4:47 left in the third quarter after Kaleb Johnsonâs 4-yard touchdown run. McNamaraâs two-point conversion pass was incomplete, a play that proved to be important at the end.
âI felt like we were teetering on the edge the whole time,â Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said.
But the Cyclones rallied, with Becht throwing a 75-yard touchdown pass to Jaylin Noel late in the third quarter and Konrardy adding a 46-yard field goal early in the fourth.
âThe real win is when you see young men respond to adversity,â Campbell said. âLife is going to be hard. There's going to be tough moments. But you have to respond to adversity.â
Johnson, who rushed for 187 yards, opened the scoring for Iowa with a 27-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Hawkeyes led 13-0 at halftime, but they squandered chances to get more points in the first half. They had first-and-goal at the Iowa State 1 early in the second quarter, and another first-and-goal situation at the 3 in the quarter, but only came away with two field goals from Drew Stevens.
âI really felt that was the game,â Campbell said. âWhen we were able to make those stands down there, I thought, man, we can get the momentum going our way in the second half.â
The Cyclones outgained the Hawkeyes 361-303.
âToday, the bigger issue is not at least getting one touchdown on those field-goal opportunities, when we had the ball down near their goal line,â Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. âObviously, thatâs an area weâre going to have to improve on.â
Becht, who had a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Higgins early in the third quarter to start Iowa Stateâs scoring, threw for 272 yards. Noel had five catches for 133 yards.
âWe expanded a little bit more,â Becht said about the play-calling. âWe wanted to be more aggressive in the second half.â
Iowa had 204 rushing yards. McNamara was 13 of 28 for 99 yards.
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The Hawkeyes had a chance to take control of the game early, but couldnât get more points out of those drives deep into Cyclone territory. That left the game in the hands of Iowaâs defense, which kept Iowa State contained until that final drive.
It took a while before Iowa Stateâs defense finally had an answer for Iowa in the second half. The Cyclones held Iowa to just 15 yards on four possessions after cutting the lead to 19-17, but couldnât get anything going against Iowaâs defense until the closing drive.
Up next
Iowa State: Hosts Arkansas State on Saturday, Sept. 21
Iowa: Hosts Troy on Saturday.
Cy-Hawk stats: Comparing numbers after the game