Iowa State football defense keeps team afloat in first half against Iowa

The Iowa State football team’s offense didn’t really get going in the first half of the Cy Hawk game against Iowa on Saturday.

But fortunately for the Cyclones, the defense was stronger in the first 30 minutes of play and was able to limit the damage, so that the Hawkeyes only had a 13-0 lead at halftime.

Iowa beat the Cyclones 196-101 and had three third-down conversions to ISU’s none, but the two-point deficit Iowa State faced could have been much worse.

The Hawkeyes’ only touchdown of the first half came on a short field with possession beginning in ISU territory and ended with a big 27-yard run by Kaleb Johnson. But after that, the Cyclones’ defense began to shine.

Quarterback Rocco Becht was intercepted by Jay Higgins, setting the Hawkeyes offense in motion at the ISU 11-yard line. However, Matt Campbell’s team didn’t let Iowa easily advance into the end zone. They fought back and held the Hawkeyes to a field goal, making the score 10-0.

Another Iowa drive, probably the Hawkeyes’ best of the day, came late in the second quarter. After a 77-yard drive, Iowa had first-and-goal at ISU’s 3-yard line. But the defense held firm, keeping the Hawkeyes out of the end zone and forcing a second field goal from Drew Stevens, extending the deficit to 13-0. In total, ISU had allowed just six points on two red-zone possessions by the Hawkeyes.

That was the position the teams found themselves in at halftime, but overall the Cyclones were lucky that the game had not yet gotten out of control.

On the first drive of the second half, the Cyclones’ defense once again put in a strong performance when Eli Porter intercepted Cade McNamara at the ISU 25-yard line, giving Becht and Co. a good position.

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