Plenty of takeaways in Iowa State’s dominating win over Kansas

AMES — Iowa State took care of business Saturday by defeating Kansas, 45-0. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the game:

IRONMAN LANNING

The week after becoming a national story for playing both offense and defense, Joel Lanning took the field again. And again, he played in all three phases of the game.

Defensively, Lanning was a one-man wrecking crew. The senior linebacker recorded 10 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, leading Iowa State's defense in each category.

The bad weather and slick field conditions didn't slow him down. In fact, he thought it was fun.

'(Playing in the rain on defense) is a lot more fun than offense,' Lanning said. 'You don't really have to worry about taking care of the ball or anything; you just have to go attack people in this situation. It's fun because you get to fly around and slide everywhere.'

Even though the majority of his reps came on the defensive side of the ball, he did get a few reps on offense and a key third-down conversion.

Lanning was second on the team in rushing, as he ran for 34 yards on eight carries.

KEMPT PROTECTS BALL

Iowa State's new starting quarterback Kyle Kempt didn't put up gaudy numbers like he did last week against Oklahoma, but that's expected in a rainy game.

Kempt never turned the ball over and completed 13 of his 20 passes for 122 yards and one touchdown. His efficiency is what Coach Matt Campbell noticed.

'He took care of the football today in really bad conditions early on in the game,' Campbell said. '(There were) a couple bad snaps and he got on it and took care of the ball. And he never panics, and that part I really, really love about his game. I think he gives a little bit of a steadying force in the chaos that goes into a football game.'

MONTGOMERY'S 3 TDs

Iowa State running back David Montgomery was the first Cyclone running back since Jeff Woody to run for three rushing touchdowns in a game.

Montgomery didn't have a spectacular game on the ground in terms of yardage, rushing for 68 yards on 21 attempts. His long on Saturday was 18 yards.

'(Getting three touchdowns) is cool,' Montgomery said. 'But it really wasn't me. (The touchdown runs) were 2 or 3 yards out so really it was just the rest of the team. They just gave me the ball and I ran straight.'

YOUTH GETS ITS SHOT

In a 45-0 blowout, coaches get opportunities to see what their younger and more inexperienced players are capable of. Campbell took full advantage of that.

Redshirt freshman quarterback back Zeb Noland played the whole fourth quarter. Noland showed off his arm, hitting receivers down the sidelines for big gains. He passed for 90 yards on five completions with a long of 34 yards.

Running back Sheldon Croney also saw significant playing time for the first time.

Croney ran the ball four times for 11 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown run.

On the defensive side of the ball, players like cornerback Keonte Jones, linebacker Bobby McMillen and linebacker Tymar Sutton all had two or more tackles.

'I think (playing young guys) is huge,' Campbell said. 'That's when you start talking about development. The bigger thing is, I think those guys took advantage of those reps and that's what I love to see. And that means you're practicing at a really high rate. When those guys go into the game, they're making plays. Defensively I think the amount of people that went in and played good football for us was really fun to see.'

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