Cyclones End Big 12 Streak With Win Over Baylor Bears
Cyclone Celebration (AP Photo/ Charlie Neibergall)
Okay Cyclone fans; the monkey is now officially off our back. The Iowa State Cyclones snapped an 11 game losing streak in Big 12 conference play on Saturday, Oct. 17 as they beat the Baylor Bears 24-10 behind a solid outing by the Cyclones defense. It marks the first Big 12 victory by the Cyclones since they beat the Colorado Buffaloes two years ago. The Cyclones have snapped 3 significant streaks this season; they started the season by ending a 10 game overall losing streak beating North Dakota State, they ended a 17 game road losing streak with a win at Kent State , and they put an end to a Big 12 losing streak that reached 12 before the win over Baylor. The win puts the Cyclones at 4-3 overall, and brings the Cyclones one win closer to bowl game eligibility.
Baylor jumped out to a 3 point lead, but the Cyclones scored the next 24 points in route to a dominating 24-10 victory. The game could have been a blow out if it weren’t for three missed field goals from Cyclone kicker Grant Mahoney. The Cyclone defense played lights out and the Cyclone offense continued to put up big numbers behind Austen Arnaud, Jerome Tiller and Alexander Robinson. Iowa State was able to amass a total of 454 yards of offense, 240 yards rushing, and had over 36 minutes of possession.
Key Performances
QB Austen Arnaud- Arnaud was 18/28 for 166 yards passing and 1 touchdown, and added 45 yards on the ground and 1 rushing touchdown in just over two quarters of play. Arnaud came out of the game after hurting his throwing hand. It is reportedly just a bruise and he should be fine to play next week against Nebraska. Arnaud is having a phenomenal year running the ball, he’s averaging 60 yards and 1 TD per game this year.
QB Jerome Tiller- Freshman QB Jerome Tiller replaced Arnaud early in the third quarter and made his presence known in his first game with significant playing time. He was 7 of 8 for 48 yards and ran for 74 yards on 10 carries with a 20 yard touchdown run, his first career TD as a Cyclone.
WR Marquis Hamilton (AP Photo/ Charlie Neibergall)
RB Alexander Robinson- Despite a sore groin, Alexander Robinson ran for 83 yards on 19 carries before leaving the game midway through the third quarter. His status is not known, but Paul Rhoads indicated he should be good to go next week. Robinson now has 737 rushing yards and 6 TD’s on the season. He is averaging over 100 yards per game and almost 1 TD per game.
WR Marquis Hamilton– Senior wide out Marquis Hamilton hauled in 9 catches for 97 yards to lead the Cyclones receiving corps. His performance against Baylor marked a season high in catches with 9, and tied a season high in receiving yards with 97. Hamilton will have to match this performance next week if the Cyclones are going to win next week at Nebraska.
Cyclones Defense – The Cyclones defense was all over the Baylor Bears on Saturday, as they picked off three passes, forced 5 punts, and stopped a 4th and 1 try by the Bears. The Cyclone defense gave up just 89 rushing yards and held Baylor to 10 points. The Cyclones did not give up a touchdown until the last 9 seconds of the game, when the Bears scored on the Cyclone reserves. Top performers on defense include Senior LB Fred Garrin, who had 7 tackles and 2 interceptions, and CB Leonard Johnson who had the other interception and 5 tackles. The defensive line stepped up big, holding the Bears to under 100 yards on the ground and stuffing a critical 4th down conversion.
- For complete player and game statistics see ESPN’s Boxscore
Cyclone QB Jerome Tiller Dives for Extra Yardage (AP Photo/ Charlie Neibergall)
Iowa State Vs. Baylor Scoring Summary
First Quarter
Baylor – 3, Iowa State – 0 : Baylor opened the scoring with 38 yard field goal to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Bears with just 2:47 remaining in the first quarter. The field goal marked the only score of the first quarter as the Cyclones started the game off slow.
Second Quarter
Baylor – 3, Iowa State – 7 : Austen Arnaud got the Cyclones on the board with a 1 yard touchdown scramble just 1 minute and 22 seconds into the second quarter. Grant Mahoney knocked the PAT through to give the Cyclones a 7-3 lead with over 13 minutes left to play in the half.
Baylor – 3, Iowa State – 14 : Austen Arnaud hooked up with TE Derrick Catlett on a 4 yard touchdown pass with 9 minutes left in the half to lengthen the Cyclones lead to 14-3. This ended the scoring for the half and the Cyclones took a 14-3 lead into the locker room.
End of Half
Baylor – 3, Iowa State – 17 : The Cyclones opened the second half scoring when Grant Mahoney booted a 45 yard field goal through the uprights at the 12:30 mark of the third quarter, extending the Cyclone lead to 17-3. Baylor rolled the dice when they went for a 4th down conversion that failed and consequently set up Mahoney’s field goal. Mahoney was a little shaky against Baylor, as he went 1 for 4 on field goal attempts. Never the less, the 45 yard field goal gave the Cyclones a 14 point lead.
Baylor – 3, Iowa State – 24 :The Cyclones put the game out of reach when backup QB Jerome Tiller ran 20 yards for a touchdown with 8 minutes left in the third quarter to put the Cyclones up 24-3. The Cyclones Zac Sandvig blocked a punt midway through the third quarter to set up Tiller’s 20 yard touchdown run and helped put the Cyclones up by 21 points.
Fourth Quarter
Baylor – 10, Iowa State – 24 : Any hopes for a come back for Baylor were lost as QB Blake Szymanski threw 3 interceptions in the second half and failed on a 4th and 1 conversion. Baylor did finally find the end zone for the first time with only 9 seconds remaining in the game when TE Jerod Monk threw to Justin Akers from 3 yards out to bring the score to 24- 10 in favor of the Iowa State Cyclones. The Cyclones improved to 4-3 overall and Baylor dropped to 3-3 on the season.
End of Game
- For complete scoring summary check out ESPN’s Play-By-Play
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