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Iowa State wins thrilling Pop-Tarts Bowl vs. Miami

Iowa State wins thrilling Pop-Tarts Bowl vs. Miami
GOOD MORNING. IF YOU DIDN’T CATCH IT LAST NIGHT, THE POP TARTS BOWL CAME WITH DRAMA. TOP OF THE LIST MIGHT HAVE BEEN QUARTERBACK ROCCO BECK’S POP TART FLAVOR OF CHOICE, BUT WE WILL GET THERE. YOU CAN SEE MATT CAMPBELL AND ROCCO BECK TRYING TO PULL DOWN THE POP TART. THERE GOES CINNAMON ROLL. BUT LIKE I SAID, WE WILL GET THERE. WE DID SEE IOWA STATE’S FOURTH GAME WINNING DRIVE OF THE SEASON WITH THE WIN OVER MIAMI. THIS WAS THE FIRST EVER MEETING BETWEEN THESE TEAMS. HOT FUDGE SUNDAE WAS LOVING IT. MIAMI FUMBLED THE FIRST SNAP OF THE GAME, AND IOWA STATE RECOVERED. SO THINGS WERE LOOKING UP FOR CYCLONE NATION. ROCCO BACK A PASSING PLAY TO OPEN UP THEIR FIRST DRIVE. GABE BURCHELL CLIMBS THE LADDER, CRASHING DOWN WITH THE BALL. IOWA STATE STRUCK FIRST. HURRICANES SECOND DRIVE WAS A 75 YARD HOUSE CALL BY DAMIEN MARTINEZ. HE HAD A TEAM HIGH 179 RUSHING YARDS, TAUNTING HIS TEAMMATE OR RATHER, THE OTHER TEAM. WE’LL NEVER KNOW. CARSON HANSON WAS LIKE A CANARY IN A COAL MINE FOR MIAMI. RATHER A WARNING FOR DANGER BECAUSE THIS OPENED UP HIS SCORING TEAR. IT’S 14 SEVEN IOWA STATE. WE SAW FIVE COMBINED TOUCHDOWNS IN THE FIRST QUARTER ALONE. THE CYCLONES LEAD 2114 TO START THE SECOND. CAM WARD’S ESCAPABILITY ON DISPLAY. JOSH IS A TRAITOR. STIFF ARMED HIS WAY INTO THE END ZONE FOR SIX. WE ARE KNOTTED UP AGAIN. IOWA STATE FOUND SUCCESS WITH 21 PERSONNEL. HANSON SEEMED TO BE WIDE OPEN, OFTEN MARCHES IN FOR THE HAT TRICK. HIS THIRD TOUCHDOWN OF THE DAY IS THE MOST IN A BOWL GAME IN PROGRAM HISTORY. IOWA STATE MIAMI HAD FOUR STRAIGHT TOUCHDOWN DRIVES TO START THE GAME. SO BY MY MATH, THAT MADE IT 2828 MIAMI, SAID CAM WARD. THE SECOND HALF, AS HE IS PROJECTED TO GO FIFTH OVERALL IN THE NFL DRAFT. SO FAST FORWARD TO THE FOURTH QUARTER. IOWA STATE TRAILED 4135. THAT FOURTH AND GOAL WITH A MINUTE TO GO WAS GOOD. ROCCO BECK BROKE THE PLANE AND THAT WAS THE EQUALIZER. IOWA STATE WOULD NOW LEAD BY ONE POINT WITH 50 ACTUALLY THREE SECONDS ON THE CLOCK. MIAMI HAS TO GO FOR THE HAIL MARY, BUT IT IS PICKED OFF IN IOWA STATE. WALKS THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR OF HISTORY, REACHING ITS FIRST EVER 11 WIN SEASON WITH A 4241 VICTORY. CINNAMON ROLL DOESN’T KNOW WHAT’S COMING NEXT. MVP ROCCO BECK PICKED THE POP TART FLAVOR FOR HIS TEAM TO TOAST. IT WAS CINNAMON ROLL WHO FOLLOWED HIS DREAMS. THAT TINY SIGN SAYS, AS DID IOWA STATE AFTER A HISTORIC 2024 SEASON. KOBE ONCE SAID HE ENJOYED HIS POP TART CHOICE. THAT WAS THE BEST START. I’VE TASTED ALL WEEK, SO SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST. I HAVEN’T HAD THAT ONE BEFORE. MY FAVORITE ONE PROBABLY IS S’MORES OR HOT FUDGE SUNDAE. WHAT? COACH? COACH MAUSER LIKES. I MEAN, YEAH, IT HASN’T HIT ME YET. I LOVE THIS TEAM SO MUCH. I LOVE COACH FOR EVERYTHING HE’S DONE FOR ME. AND THIS TEAM MEANS THE WORLD TO ME. AND THERE’S NO BETTER WAY TO GO OUT. BUT THEN THE CHAMPION, SO MANY PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, WHEN WHEN WE TOOK THE JOB, SAID, YOU KNOW, MAN, THIS IS YOUR YOU’RE GOING TO GO TO THE COACHING GRAVEYARD AND TO BE ABLE TO NOW, NINE YEARS LATER, BE ABLE TO SIT HERE AND LOOK WHAT THESE YOUNG MEN STAND FO
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Iowa State wins thrilling Pop-Tarts Bowl vs. Miami
It was a season of Iowa State comebacks. And fittingly, that's how it ended for the Cyclones.Game MVP Rocco Becht scored from a yard out on fourth-and-goal with 56 seconds remaining and No. 18 Iowa State capped the best season in school history by rallying past No. 15 Miami 42-41 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday.Becht finished with 270 passing yards and three touchdowns for Iowa State (11-2), a program that entered this season — the 133rd year of Cyclone football — never having won more than nine games in a year.“If you look at this team, it’s really who they’ve been all year,” coach Matt Campbell said.The win marked the fourth time in 2024 that Iowa State got a winning score with less than two minutes remaining. For this one, the Cyclones rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half — with Miami quarterback Cam Ward watching after a record-setting first half — to get win No. 11. Carson Hansen rushed for a pair of touchdowns for Iowa State.And as the MVP, Becht got the honor of choosing which flavor Pop-Tart was to be sacrificed in a giant toaster.“There's only one,” Becht said. “Cinnamon roll.”Ward passed for three touchdowns in his final college game, while Damien Martinez rushed for a career-high 179 yards for Miami (10-3), which dropped its sixth straight bowl game and lost three of four games to end the season — those three losses by a combined 10 points."Disappointed that we couldn't pull out a victory," Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “These guys have always fought and always competed and this was no exception. ... It's painful. It's as painful as it gets when you don't win. But there's a lot to build on.”Martinez and Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed for scores for Miami, which was seeking its first 11-win season since 2003. Elijah Arroyo, Jojo Trader and Jacolby George had TD catches for the Hurricanes.A 15-play, 84-yard drive by Iowa State was what delivered the winning score.The first half was wild. Miami fumbled the ball away on the game's first snap. And the next eight drives all ended with touchdowns, neither team able to stop the other.The teams combined for 625 yards — 358 for Miami, 267 for Iowa State — and 59 points by halftime, which Miami ended holding a 31-28 lead. The only punt was by Iowa State's Tyler Perkins midway through the second quarter; he was cheered when he entered the field during a ping-pong game of a first half, the teams trading touchdowns like nothing.Ward was 12 of 19 passing for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, before Emory Williams took over to start the second half. Fletcher's 1-yard run midway through the third quarter put Miami up 38-28, but the Hurricanes managed only three points on their final three drives.“To end the season this way, it’s really fitting,” Campbell said. “It really tells the character of this team. Hard to find teams still in college football, but we’ve got one in Ames, Iowa.”The takeawayIowa State: The Cyclones had touchdown drives of 22, 75, 65 and 75 yards on their first four possessions — 237 yards in all. They had one touchdown and 110 yards in their next five possessions, not counting one that was only a kneel-down to end the half.Miami: The Hurricanes were 50-0 since the start of 2000 when scoring at least 38 points and gaining at least 500 yards. They're 50-2 now — the loss to Syracuse that cost Miami a College Football Playoff berth ended the streak, and the Hurricanes lost despite 41 points and 524 yards on Saturday.Poll implicationsIf Miami remains in the AP Top 25, it'll make 2024 the first season since 2017 in which the Hurricanes appeared in every poll. Iowa State will end the season ranked for only the second time since 2000.School recordAndy Borregales' field goal with 9:40 left gave Miami a 41-35 lead — giving him 11 points (five PATs, two field goals) on the day and 404 points in his career. That set a new Miami school record, one more than Michael Badgley.Up nextIowa State: Opens the 2025 season on Aug. 23 against Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland.Miami: Opens the 2025 season at home against Notre Dame, sometime over Labor Day weekend. The date — anytime between Thursday, Aug. 28 and Monday, Sept. 1 — has not been finalized.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) —

It was a season of Iowa State comebacks. And fittingly, that's how it ended for the Cyclones.

Game MVP Rocco Becht scored from a yard out on fourth-and-goal with 56 seconds remaining and No. 18 Iowa State capped the best season in school history by rallying past No. 15 Miami 42-41 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday.

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Becht finished with 270 passing yards and three touchdowns for Iowa State (11-2), a program that entered this season — the 133rd year of Cyclone football — never having won more than nine games in a year.

“If you look at this team, it’s really who they’ve been all year,” coach Matt Campbell said.

The win marked the fourth time in 2024 that Iowa State got a winning score with less than two minutes remaining. For this one, the Cyclones rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half — with Miami quarterback Cam Ward watching after a record-setting first half — to get win No. 11. Carson Hansen rushed for a pair of touchdowns for Iowa State.

And as the MVP, Becht got the honor of choosing which flavor Pop-Tart was to be sacrificed in a giant toaster.

“There's only one,” Becht said. “Cinnamon roll.”

Ward passed for three touchdowns in his final college game, while Damien Martinez rushed for a career-high 179 yards for Miami (10-3), which dropped its sixth straight bowl game and lost three of four games to end the season — those three losses by a combined 10 points.

"Disappointed that we couldn't pull out a victory," Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “These guys have always fought and always competed and this was no exception. ... It's painful. It's as painful as it gets when you don't win. But there's a lot to build on.”

Martinez and Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed for scores for Miami, which was seeking its first 11-win season since 2003. Elijah Arroyo, Jojo Trader and Jacolby George had TD catches for the Hurricanes.

A 15-play, 84-yard drive by Iowa State was what delivered the winning score.

The first half was wild. Miami fumbled the ball away on the game's first snap. And the next eight drives all ended with touchdowns, neither team able to stop the other.

The teams combined for 625 yards — 358 for Miami, 267 for Iowa State — and 59 points by halftime, which Miami ended holding a 31-28 lead. The only punt was by Iowa State's Tyler Perkins midway through the second quarter; he was cheered when he entered the field during a ping-pong game of a first half, the teams trading touchdowns like nothing.

Ward was 12 of 19 passing for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, before Emory Williams took over to start the second half. Fletcher's 1-yard run midway through the third quarter put Miami up 38-28, but the Hurricanes managed only three points on their final three drives.

“To end the season this way, it’s really fitting,” Campbell said. “It really tells the character of this team. Hard to find teams still in college football, but we’ve got one in Ames, Iowa.”

The takeaway

Iowa State: The Cyclones had touchdown drives of 22, 75, 65 and 75 yards on their first four possessions — 237 yards in all. They had one touchdown and 110 yards in their next five possessions, not counting one that was only a kneel-down to end the half.

Miami: The Hurricanes were 50-0 since the start of 2000 when scoring at least 38 points and gaining at least 500 yards. They're 50-2 now — the loss to Syracuse that cost Miami a College Football Playoff berth ended the streak, and the Hurricanes lost despite 41 points and 524 yards on Saturday.

Poll implications

If Miami remains in the AP Top 25, it'll make 2024 the first season since 2017 in which the Hurricanes appeared in every poll. Iowa State will end the season ranked for only the second time since 2000.

School record

Andy Borregales' field goal with 9:40 left gave Miami a 41-35 lead — giving him 11 points (five PATs, two field goals) on the day and 404 points in his career. That set a new Miami school record, one more than Michael Badgley.

Up next

Iowa State: Opens the 2025 season on Aug. 23 against Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland.

Miami: Opens the 2025 season at home against Notre Dame, sometime over Labor Day weekend. The date — anytime between Thursday, Aug. 28 and Monday, Sept. 1 — has not been finalized.

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