Iowa Prevails to Hoist Cy-Hawk Trophy
AMES, Iowa --
The University of Iowa football team jumped out to a 27-7 lead before
holding off a fourth-quarter Iowa State rally to claim a 27-21 victory
on Saturday night in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup inside
Jack Trice Stadium.
Iowa limited to the Cyclones to 181 yards
and seven points over the first three quarters before Iowa State found
fourth-quarter life. The Cyclones piled up 138 yards in the fourth
quarter alone en route to 14 points to stage a late-game comeback.
2013 Iowa State graphic "We're
thrilled to get the victory," said UI head coach Kirk Ferentz. "We knew
it would be a battle, it's a battle every time we come to Ames. They
don't give away victories here. We had to earn it."
The Hawkeyes
finished the game with 378 yards of total offense, piling up 218 on the
ground and 160 through the air. The Cyclones netted 319 yards -- 260
passing and 59 rushing.
Junior Mark Weisman had a career-high 35
carries for 145 yards, his third-straight game surpassing the 100-yard
mark. Sophomore Jake Rudock completed 14-of-23 attempts for 160 yards
with two touchdowns, and junior Kevonte Martin-Manley had seven catches
for 60 yards with one score.
"Mark did a great job running
hard," said Rudock. "You could see it in his eyes, like 'Keep giving it
to me.' I kept telling him, 'Keep running well, if the offensive line
keeps blocking the way they are, we are going to keep giving it to you
and keep going.'"
Martin-Manley surpassed 100 career receptions
and 1,000 career receiving yards, pushing him to 101 catches for 1,057
yards. He is the 20th Iowa player in program history with at least 100
receptions and the 36th to surpass 1,000 yards.
Iowa State's Sam
B. Richardson completed 22-of-39 attempts for three touchdowns, while
also tossing two interceptions. Wide receiver Quenton Bundrage had
seven grabs for 146 yards with three scores, while James White finished
with 26 yards on five carries.
A pair of Iowa defenders notched
double-digit tackles. Senior Christian Kirksey finished with 11 stops
(five solo), while senior Anthony Hitchens had 10 tackles with six solo.
After
bottling up the Cyclones for the first two-plus quarters, a big-play
attempted to flip the game's momentum. Iowa State's offense didn't go
over the 100-yard mark for the game until the seven-minute mark of the
third quarter, but despite that, a 67-yard touchdown pass cut the
Hawkeyes' lead in half.
On third-and-4 from its own 33,
Richardson connected with Bundrage for a 67-yard score when the
receiver broke a B.J. Lowery arm tackle and out-ran the Iowa defense to
make the score 13-7 with 5:28 remaining.
Iowa's offense had an answer, using a nine-play, 60-yard drive to put the Hawkeyes up 20-7.
Senior
Jordan Cotton gave Iowa solid starting field position with a 28-yard
yard kickoff return to the Iowa 40. After moving into Cyclone territory
via the ground attack, Rudock converted a third-and-8, withstanding an
Iowa State blitz before delivering an 18-yard strike to Martin-Manley
on a crossing route to move the chains.
Three plays later,
Rudock made the Cyclones pay for blitzing the house, when he connected
with sophomore Jacob Hillyer for a 26-yard catch-and-run for a
touchdown. The reception was Hillyer's first career touchdown reception.
After
Iowa's defense forced a three-and-out, the Hawkeyes followed with a
15-play, 73-yard drive to push its advantage to 27-7. Fourteen of the
15 plays came on the ground, with Iowa bull-dozing its way into the end
zone for the score. Weisman and junior Damon Bullock combined for 65
yards on the drive before Rudock scored from 1-yard out.
It was
Rudock's fourth rushing touchdown this season, and he is the first
quarterback in the Ferentz era to rush for a score in three-straight
games.
The Cyclones wouldn't go down quietly, as they kept their
hope alive with a seven-play, 82-yard drive that eclipsed 2:32 on the
clock. Richardson ended the series with consecutive completions of 32
yards (to Tad Ecby) and 26 yards, the latter of which was a touchdown
toss to Bundrage, making the score 27-14.
Iowa State made things
interesting when tight end Ben Boesen recovered an on-side kick at the
Iowa 46. The Hawkeyes had the on-side return set up, but the ball
jumped over the first line of Iowa blockers and junior tight end Ray
Hamilton couldn't snag the ball in mid-air, allowing for the Cyclone
recovery.
On the second play of the Iowa State series, the
Hawkeye defense forced Richardson's second interception of the game.
The Iowa State quarterback targeted Jarvis West on a go route along the
Cyclone sideline, but Lowery made a leaping, one-handed interception to
give Iowa possession at its own 14.
After getting a
three-and-out, the Cyclones took over at their own 41 yard line.
Richardson then used completions of 7, 13, and 11 yards to advance Iowa
State to the 34. The Hawkeyes buckled down to force a fourth-and-4 from
the 17, but Richardon connected with Bundrage for a 17-yard score on a
blown coverage making the score 27-21.
Iowa recovered the
Cyclones' second on-side kick and needed just one first down to seal
the victory. Weisman ran for 5 yards on first down, 4 on second, but
his third-and-1 attempt was bottled up leaving 12 seconds remaining.
After
a Hawkeye punt, Iowa State took possession at its own 13, but the
Cyclones' miracle comeback was shot down, as Iowa ended its two-game
losing streak in the series and brought the Cy-Hawk Trophy back to Iowa
City.
"This is a big team win," said Rudock. "We are all trying
to get better, trying to get the win and trying to put ourselves in a
good situation."
Iowa controlled the opening half of action,
jumping out to a 13-0 lead. The Hawkeyes gained three times as many
yards as the Cyclones, holding a 186-61 advantage in total offense and
had a 10-minute advantage in time of possession.
Iowa used a
10-play, 71-yard drive to score the game's first points early in the
second quarter. After taking over at the 29 yard line, the Hawkeyes
moved to midfield behind three rushes and a 7-yard completion to
Martin-Manley. On third-and-4, Rudock connected with Hamilton to move
to the ISU-38, and two plays later, Rudock split a pair of Cyclone
defenders, finding Tevaun Smith for a 25-yard gain to the 2.
Following
a 5-yard illegal formation penalty, Weisman rushed 2 yards to the 5
before Rudock zipped a 5-yard touchdown pass to Martin-Manley to give
Iowa a 7-0 advantage. Rudock was 4-of-4 for 52 yards on the drive.
After
three consecutive three-and-outs, Iowa used a healthy dose of its
ground game -- using 13 consecutive rushes to advance to the Iowa State
11. The Hawkeyes converted three third downs on the series, but the
drive stalled at the 10 to set up a 27-yard Mike Meyer field goal that
made the score 10-0 with 1:43 remaining in the half.
The
Hawkeyes added a field goal before the half when linebacker James
Morris forced Iowa State's first turnover. After moving to midfield
courtesy of just its fourth first down of the half, Morris batted up a
pass attempted for James White, picked it off and returned it 27-yards
to the Iowa State 25 with 33 seconds left. Meyer made the score 13-0
with a 38-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining.
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