IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Caden Buhr made a 42-yard field goal with 15 seconds left to give No. 21 Iowa a 16-13 victory over Iowa State on Saturday night.
It was a moment Buhr, a second-year player in his first season as Iowa's starting kicker, has been thinking about for a while.
“I think I probably every day envision a type of kick like that,” Buhr said. “That’s kind of the mind of a kicker. You’re trying to do everything you can to try to put the ball
between the uprights, live up to the dream.”
It was another close game in the in-state rivalry. The last nine games in the series have been decided by 10 points or less, including five consecutive by a single possession.
“It's a super cool rivalry,” said Buhr, who grew up in nearby Bettendorf, Iowa. “I grew up going to games here all the time. My dad had season tickets, so I've watched a lot of Iowa-Iowa State games. So to be here, be in this moment, it’s truly a dream come true.”
The game ended with a timing question when the Cyclones got the ball to their own 49 after Jaylen Raynor threw a 24-yard pass to Carter Pabst. It appeared time had run out after Pabst had been tackled inbounds, but a replay review showed there was one second left. Iowa State, though, was out of timeouts, and by rule there would not have been enough time to get off a snap once the ball was set.
“We knew it was going to come down to the wire,” Iowa State coach Jimmy Rogers said. “It took every bit of that game, but we ran out of clock.”
Iowa (2-0) started its winning drive on its own 45, moving 31 yards on nine plays. After Xavier Williams was stopped for no gain on third-and-1 at the 24, Buhr came in and, despite a high snap, hit the winner.
“It was a surreal moment,” Iowa quarterback Hank Brown said. “That entire field-goal unit did such a good job. Super impressed with them and impressed with Caden's clutch ability.”
It was the third field goal of the game for Buhr, who hit one from 32 yards to tie it with 6:22 to play.
Iowa State (1-1) built a 10-0 lead in the second quarter before Iowa tied it late in the quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Brown and a 45-yard field goal from Buhr.
“Probably the best thing in the equation is we fell down 10, and fought our way back,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.
Ferentz told his team after the game that the win would be a good lesson with Big Ten play beginning for the Hawkeyes in two weeks.
“There's more of that coming, more of that coming for us,” Ferentz said.
Ferentz noted the physicality of the game.
“I think both teams are going to feel this one for a while,” he said.
During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Rogers called Iowa wide receiver Tony Diaz “Nate Diaz.”
Diaz then had eight catches for 95 yards against the Cyclones, and immediately brought up Rogers’ mistake during his post-game interview.
“He knows my name now,” Diaz said.
Iowa was able to pull out the win despite struggling to move the ball on the Cyclones for most of the game. The Hawkeyes had a 284-255 edge in offensive yards. “They made everything really tough for us,” Ferentz said.
Iowa State, which didn’t have a starter from last year returning after the hiring of Rogers in the offseason, kept the Hawkeyes out of rhythm on offense. and nearly pulled off the win “I'm proud of the locker room for how we played, but we still lost," Rogers said.
Iowa State: Hosts Bowling Green next Saturday.
Iowa: Hosts Northern Iowa next Saturday.
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