‘It’s everything you dream of’: Iowa State weathers storm, defeats Iowa for Cy-Hawk football trophy

A 21-play, 99-yard touchdown drive that took up nearly 12 minutes of second-half clock proved the difference in the 10-7 Cyclone win.

Ayrton Breckenridge

Iowa State linebacker Carson Willich and offensive lineman Trevor Downing hoists the Cy-Hawk Trophy after a football game between Iowa and Iowa State at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. The Cyclones ended a six-game Cy-Hawk series losing streak defeating Iowa, 10-7.

Chris Werner, Assistant Sports Editor
September 10, 2022

When Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell met with the media after the Cyclones’ first Cy-Hawk football victory since 2014, he aptly summed up the game at Kinnick Stadium.

“You have to weather the storms early on,” Campbell said postgame.

The literal storm didn’t reach Iowa City until late in the third quarter, pouring rain down on athletes and fans.

But Iowa State dealt with figurative storms throughout the afternoon to escape with a 10-7 win — a blocked punt following a three-and-out to open the game, two turnovers inside Iowa’s 1-yard line, and another blocked punt in the third quarter could have swung the odds into the Hawkeyes’ favor. 

Iowa pushed across a touchdown on its first drive of the game, but that proved to be the Hawkeyes’ only points of the afternoon.

“Not a very pretty football game,” Campbell said. “Yet, at the end of the day, that’s football. It’s a game of imperfection. I give our kids a lot of credit, obviously a hard place to play, a very good football program and football team. For our kids, that character and the resiliency to keep playing, those are things that are great traits that hopefully will continue to serve us well as we continue to grow as a football team.”

The first of Iowa State’s red zone turnovers came with just over 12 minutes left in the second quarter, as junior running back Jirehl Brock fumbled while crossing the goal line. Iowa senior Logan Klemp scooped it up in the end zone for a touchback.

 

The Cyclone defense stood tall, however, allowing just 26 yards on the next drive and forcing a punt.

After a touchback, Cyclone sophomore quarterback Hunter Dekkers led his team to its first points of the afternoon. Dekkers orchestrated a 66-yard drive which ended with a successful 22-yard field goal from freshman kicker Jace Gilbert.

Iowa State found itself inside the Iowa 20-yard line again, but Dekkers threw an interception. Heading into halftime, Iowa State outgained Iowa on the ground, 180-86, but trailed by four.

To rally his team, Campbell said he shared a recent memory.

“My halftime speech was revolutionary,” Campbell said. “I coached girls’ softball, sixth-grade girls softball this summer, and we got to the championship game. And we had to play over in Roland, [Iowa,] and they had their varsity team chanting in the dugout. We were down, 4-2, after the third inning, and we came up to bat and we scored three runs. We got up, 5-4, and then we went on a run.

“I said, ‘Listen,  if my sixth-grade girls can do this against Roland-Story for a championship, you guys can get something figured out here in the second half.’ There’s my inspiration. That’s what got us the win, sixth-grade girls’ softball.”

What actually got Iowa State its first Cy-Hawk trophy in eight years was a 99-yard, 21-play touchdown drive that took up nearly 12 minutes of second-half clock. 

Following a Monte Pottebaum fumble on the Cyclone 1-yard-line, three run plays and an Iowa penalty gave Iowa State its first first down of the drive.  

From there, Dekkers completed 7-of-8 passes, including seven in a row, for 44 yards — including the game-winning score to senior wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson.

 

“They did cover zero like they normally do on a big down in the endzone,” Hutchinson said of the Iowa defense. “Hunter [Dekkers]  believed in me one more time and you know, I’m just happy that I could make that play for him and this team.”

Following the go-ahead touchdown, Iowa State’s defense thwarted three Iowa drives in the final half of the fourth quarter. To seal the game, Iowa kicker Aaron Blom missed a game-tying field goal as time expired.

“It’s everything you dream of,” Dekkers, who hails from Hawarden, Iowa, said. “I mean, to be honest, this is one of the games that I’ve dreamed of playing my whole life. Didn’t really know which team I was gonna be on when I was little, obviously. But now it’s a dream come true.”