Iowa State falls flat in season finale against No. 18 West Virginia, 49-19

AMES - In Matt Campbell's estimation, a game that saw 68 total points and was just shy of four hours long ironically came down to simple details.

No. 18 West Virginia beat Iowa State convincingly 49-19 in the Cyclones' (3-9, 2-7) season finale, but the scoreboard doesn't quite paint the whole picture. Iowa State tripped over itself often, and in critical situations.

As dominant as the Cyclones were on both sides of the ball the week before, they were equally as ineffective at times against the Mountaineers (9-2, 6-2).

'We fumbled the ball or turned the ball over four times inside the 50-yard-line against a team like that, it's going to really keep you from having great success,” Campbell said after completing his first ISU season. 'Defensively we did some good things and again, we gave up some big plays when we've made some of those plays.”

Iowa State went into the red zone three times and although it capitalized on all three chances, none of them were touchdowns. Kicker Cole Netten hit field goals of 28, 32 and 31 yards, and connected on a 40-yarder just outside the red zone. The Cyclones' only touchdown was on a 97-yard kickoff return by freshman Kene Nwangwu.

Drops and high-thrown balls, which have plagued Iowa State periodically throughout the season, showed up again at times Saturday. The Cyclones also committed seven penalties for 85 yards.

'When you're in the red zone the field is smaller,” said quarterback Jacob Park. 'Really when you're on offense and you get inside the 10- or 20-yard line, the playbook shrinks. You've only got so many calls you can call throwing the ball and running the ball in the red zone. We had them drawn up today and we didn't execute.”

Three fumbles, one in each quarter except the second, also stymied drives that could have put the Cyclones back in the game.

Park was 23-for-44 passing for 371 yards with an interception and fumble. Freshman running back David Montgomery had 21 carries for 141 yards and added four catches for 45 yards while wide receiver Deshaunte Jones added five catches for 83 yards.

Wide receiver Allen Lazard completed his sixth 100-yard receiving game with four catches for 103 yards. He became the fourth player in ISU history to surpass 1,000-receiving yards (1,018) in a single season.

'We just couldn't find a rhythm,” Lazard said. 'Not being able to do that just really slows down the game. Having those four turnovers, especially on the plus side of the 50 really hurt us.”

Quarterback Joel Lanning was in for one play, a designed run at the WVU 5-yard line in the second quarter, although it was negated after a chop block was called on offensive tackle Julian Good-Jones and tight end Justin Chandler. Iowa State kicked a field goal three plays later.

WVU quarterback Skyler Howard was a model of efficiency and went 12-for-21 passing for 330 yards and five touchdowns. Running back Martell Pettaway had 30 carries for 181 yards and a score while Shelton Gibson had three catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns. ISU linebacker Kane Seeley had a game-high 11 tackles with two tackles for loss.

Iowa State gained 561 yards of offense, and marks the first time it has recorded back-to-back 500-yard games since 2013. West Virginia amassed 613 yards, the most Iowa State has allowed since Baylor had 647 on Oct. 1.

'Penalties kill drives and I think we get into the red zone we just need to execute better and not have penalties,” said center Brian Bobek. 'It was kind of crazy to have 500-and-some yards and not have a single offensive touchdown.”

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