AMES — A return to form and a senior salute for Iowa State football, which dismantled visiting Kansas in its final home game of 2025.
The Cyclones built off of their previous win over TCU in a complete 38-14 win over the Jayhawks.
Iowa State held a 17-0 halftime lead and it only punted once throughout the game. The Cyclones went on to score points in five of their first six possessions of the game.
The Cyclones improved to 7-4 overall and 4-4 in Big 12 Conference play.
Here is a report card from the win:
Offense
Grade: A
Iowa State’s extra work to diagnose and fix problems in the passing game paid off. The Cyclones wanted to simplify things to instill confidence and rebuild momentum in the passing attack, and they did just that. They went with shorter, safer passing plays early on, but started to open things up as the game went on and quarterback Rocco Becht appeared to be hitting his stride again.
Becht was efficient from the pocket, completing 18-of-23 passes for 241 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He had two touchdown passes on fourth downs, a 20-yard strike to Brett Eskildsen and then a 12-yard play-action pass to Ben Brahmer.
The Cyclones’ rushing attack was effective once again. It lost a little juice when Carson Hansen exited the game for a bit after suffering an apparent lower-body injury, but he would later return. Iowa State finished with 221 yards on the ground, marking the sixth-straight week where the Cyclones had 150 or more rushing yards.
Hansen led the ground attack with 120 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Abu Sama had 19 carries for 57 yards. Aiden Flora had his first rushing touchdown of the season, second of his career, when he broke loose for a 38-yard touchdown in the closing minutes of the game.
For all the offensive struggles Iowa State had over the last month, it was a much cleaner, productive game. Kansas didn’t have many answers for the balanced approach. The Cyclones scored points on five of their first six drives and had their lone punt late in the second quarter of the game. Iowa State went for it on fourth-and-5 early in the fourth quarter and was stopped, but that attempt happened instead of trying to kick a field goal into the wind.
Iowa State went 9-for-16 on third-down conversions. They also went 4-for-5 in red zone trips.
Defense
Grade: A-
The Cyclones kept the Jayhawks off the board in the first half. The Jayhawks attempted a 41-yard field goal, but the kick fell way short in the wind.
Kansas finally broke through with back-to-back, quick-scoring touchdown drives to start the second half, with the Jayhawks getting big chunk plays to move the ball and eventually get on the board.
Iowa State didn’t give up anything else after that. The Cyclones held Kansas to 323 yards of offense, the fewest they’ve allowed to a Big 12 opponent this year.
Kansas dual-threat quarterback Jalon Daniels was held in check. He completed just 13-of-23 passes for 154 yards. He didn’t have any touchdowns and had one interception. On the ground, he was limited to seven carries for 25 yards.
The Cyclones had a fourth-down stop early in the fourth quarter, and they also got a redzone interception from Marcus Neal to help preserve the big lead.
Special teams
Grade: B
Kyle Konrardy’s leg appeared to be A-OK, as he converted from 55 yards out late in the second quarter. There also weren’t any special teams snafus or fakes; the Cyclones kept it simple and converted on each of their PAT tries.
Aiden Flora had a 27-yard kick return on his lone attempt of the game midway through the third quarter, which got the Cyclones to the 41-yard line and helped start another touchdown drive.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football vs Kansas report card, grading the Cyclones’ win
