First Win For Cyclones A Triple OT Thriller » Brats & Beer

September 1, 2006
posted under: Iowa State football

The ISU season opener was an ugly comedy of errors at Jack Trice, but the Cyclones finally managed to beat Toledo 45-43 in triple overtime, the first OT win in Iowa State football history. The team certainly does not yet look like the Big 12 North champs we all hope they’ll be, but a win is a win however you can get there.

On the positive side of things, the Clones did not give up nor melt down when the game went into overtime, as has happened too many times in the past. They stuck with it and kept scoring and making plays. Credit Dan McCarney for making this team believe in themselves for once. Brett Meyer did a great job leading the offense, throwing for 234 yards and a touchdown, and rushing for 80 more yards and three touchdowns. He also ran the ball in for the final two-point conversion that gave ISU the winning margin. Todd Blythe had a big game receiving, with five catches for 93 yards, including two touchdowns in overtime; Austin Flynn had four catches for 53 yards. Stevie Hicks averaged better than 4 yards a carry and scored once. All in all a great effort for the offense.

ISU’s defense, though, obviously still needs some work. They gave up 412 yards to the Rockets, including 367 through the air. Most of that was due to Toledo tight end Chris Hopkins, who apparently was invisible to the Cyclone defenders because they never seemed to have him covered. Chris Singleton did finally lay a hit on the guy and broke up what would have been a game-tying two-point conversion at the end of the game. The ISU defense did put some pressure on Clint Cochran and recorded three sacks, but then they’d give up a big pass on the next play. (Sound familiar, Packer fans?) If the defense can improve quickly, this might be a dangerous team; otherwise it’ll all be on the offense to win more wild shootouts like this one.

ISU also needs to get over their penchant for looking like the Keystone Cops and shooting themselves in the foot. The blocked extra point that Toledo recovered for a two-point conversion giving the Rockets an 8-7 lead in the second quarter was a classic, but Iowa State also messed up their own two-point attempt in the third quarter and they botched a field goal attempt in the fourth quarter because of a bad snap.

Overall, though, I’m happy with the win and cautiously optimistic about the rest of the season. This Cyclones team needs to improve in some areas but it might just be another good year for Iowa State football.