In a sloppy game on a sloppy field in sloppy weather, the Kansas State Wildcats and Iowa State Cyclones played one of the most Farmageddon games ever, but the Cyclones once again came out on top 24-21 at the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.
The opening possession displayed the insanity of Farmageddon better than anyone could have imagined. The Cyclones got the ball first, and their drive ended on a Jordan Allen sack – but Dylan Edwards muffed the punt, giving
Iowa State first and goal at the eight. Edwards was injured on the play, and did not return. Toni Osunsanmi sacked Rocco Becht again, setting up third and long, but VJ Payne gave Iowa State a fresh set of downs via pass interference. Then Abu Sama fumbled and Austin Romaine recovered for the Cats.
It was a three-and-out for the Cats, however, as Edwards sat out and Jayce Brown dropped what would’ve been a first down pass, but the Cyclones went three-and-out as well and then so did the Cats again, although their drive had the amusing diversion of lineman Terrence Enos catching a pass that got batted at the line.
Becht then started completing passes, his third finding Dominic Overby for a 23-yard score. The ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, and then Brown lined up in the Wildcat and faked a pitch, keeping it for a 33-yard scamper. A few plays later on 4th-and-1, Joe Jackson picked up seven to get into the red zone.
A lost play resulted from a fumble which Avery Johnson picked up and threw away; it’s not clear whether it was a missed handoff or just a lost handle by Johnson. He picked up six on the next play, which ended the first quarter. Johnson started the second with a 10-yard keeper to tie the game.
The Cats almost forced a 3-and-out – almost, because on the third down play the only thing that kept Qua Moss from sacking Becht was Becht fumbling. Chiddi Obiazor pounced on the loose ball, setting the Cats up in the red zone. Iowa State forced a 4th-and-1, and Jackson was tripped up behind the line.
The Cats forced a 3-and-out, and they almost did so themselves but Johnson hit Garrett Oakley for 20 on 3rd-and-8. Devon Rice then recovered his own fumble on a backwards pass, saving disaster; then Jackson broke through the line for 17 but fumbled and Iowa State recovered.
An attempted murder by Desmond Purnell forced a field goal attempt from 49 yards out, which went wide right and gave the Cats possession again at the 31. A hilarious spot of bad acting by Cyclone DL Domonique Orange broke up the monotony, as he fell to the turf after contact with an official. Johnson then completed three straight passes, getting down to the 30, but then got flagged for intentional grounding. That stalled the drive, but two plays later Matt Campbell inexplicably did not call time out, allowing the clock to run down to nine seconds before the punt, which was fair-caught inside the five and the teams went into the locker room at 7-7.
The Cats went 3-and-out, but so did Iowa State, aided by Osunsanmi’s second sack. Johnson seemed to finally find his passing groove, completing three straight passes and moving the chains twice, but then the Cats started trying to run and it didn’t work so well. An incompletion on 4th-and-8 too far away for a field goal and too close for a punt ended the drive.
Iowa State plugged downfield, taking 11 plays to go 67 yards. Becht hit Brett Eskildsen from 24 to take a 14-7 lead with only 1:07 left in the third.
It took five plays to even it up again. Johnson hit Brown for 17 and Oakley for 24 before Brown failed to hold onto a pass in the end zone. No big deal. Johnson just threw it to him again, and he was wide open this time for a 37-yard score.
The Cyclones had no trouble moving downfield on their possession, but the Cats finally held up enough to force a 34-yard field goal by Kyle Konrardy to regain a 17-14 lead for Iowa State.
A holding penalty wiped out an 11-yard run by Johnson and put the Cats in a 2nd-and-20 hole. They got 17 on a pass to Jaron Tibbs, and two more on a toss to Oakley. On 4th-and-1 from the 30, Johnson kept it and got stopped right at the line to gain. After a review of the spot, the spot and the turnover on downs was upheld.
Four plays later, Becht scored on a 7-yard keeper, putting the Cyclones up 24-14. Johnson immediately hit Jerand Bradley for a 65-yard touchdown to get back within a field goal.
Straight into the red zone the Cyclones marched, and with 2:26 to go they’d reached the 16 yard line and burned all of K-State’s timeouts. On 4th-and-3, Iowa State lined up to go for it. As the play clock ran down, Matt Campbell used his last timeout, and then Carson Hansen caught a dump pass and zigged his way into the end zone – but on review, Hansen was ruled down at the 1-yard line, which wasn’t really any better for K-State as it was still a first down, and Iowa State was able to get to the two-minute timeout before the play clock expired, which in turn allowed them to simply kneel out the clock.
Statistically, the Cats had the edge in this game, outgaining the Cyclones 383-313 overall, 273-183 in the air. Avery Johnson was 21-30 for 273 with two touchdowns, and added 21 and a score on the ground.
The Cats were held to 110 yards rushing, led by Joe Jackson’s 51 on 12 carries. Brown had 78 yards and a score on 4 catches; Oakley caught five balls for 62, and Bradley’s lone catch was his 75-yard touchdown.
K-State was penalized 6 times for 48 yards; Iowa State was only hit once for five. Prior to the penultimate Cyclone drive, time of possession was basically even, but Iowa State ended up with an 8-minute edge at the gun. If there’s one stat that might explain the final score, it’s fourth-down conversions; Iowa State was 3-3, K-State was only 1-4.
WHAT WE LEARNED
1. This is our real rivalry game.
I’ve been saying this for years, even before Iowa State started winning all the time. But on the broadcast, Dave Pasch informed us that even the players hate Iowa State more than they hate Kansas.
That’s it. It’s done. There’s no more argument to be had.
2. Nothing else.
Seriously, there aren’t any real takeaways here. The condition of the field, the weather, probably some jetlag as the team only arrived in Ireland on Thursday, and the usual season-opening jitters all combine to make any real observation on what this team is and can be almost impossible. The Cats looked really bad in the first half, but they were on point after the break; they just came up short in key moments.
Iowa State did not convincingly beat K-State in any aspect of this game. Misfortune – much of which was self-inflicted – had more to do with the loss than anything.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
It would have been unthinkable at halftime, but Avery Johnson gets the nod on offense. He posted a passer rating of 168.4 for the game, and didn’t really make anything you could classify as a mistake in the second half. On defense, Tobi Osunsanma earned the honor with his two sacks (almost three), as well as a couple of key pressures.
NEXT
The Cats face the North Dakota Fighting Hawks next Saturday evening at the Bill.
