Rock, paper, Steele

AMES -- Steele Jantz broke contain. Steele Jantz broke contain. Steele Jantz broke contain.

This could go on all day. It certainly did go on all day Saturday when Jantz, a juco transfer in his first Iowa State-Iowa game, continually broke contain against Iowa's defense and made enough plays in almost four hours of football to make Brett Favre want to come out of retirement.

Lets' just skip to the end, Jantz broke contain and eventually broke the Hawkeyes, 44-41, before 56,085 at Jack Trice Stadium. He completed 25 of 37 for 279 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. That's a pass efficiency rating of 166.58 and that's your Cy-Hawk Trophy stampede, with the Cyclones snapping a three-game losing streak to Iowa.

"Some guys rise up when the spotlight is the brightest," Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said. ". . . When the game was on the line, he played spectacular."

One thousand times correct.

After Mike Meyer gave Iowa a 16-10 lead on a 50-yard field goal with 3:58 left in the third quarter, Jantz led Iowa State to touchdowns in five of ISU's next six drives, including three in overtime. Running back James White touched off the Cy-Hawk dash with a 4-yard run.

Touchdowns in five of Iowa State's last six drives set a pace that the Hawkeyes ultimately couldn't keep.

Contain was the first notion Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz mentioned when asked just how Jantz did that and that and that, too.

"We had a hard time with him running, passing, you name it," Ferentz said. "He did a great job keeping plays alive, ran the ball well and made good throws."

Jantz also rushed 16 times for 42 yards, and those numbers would've been prettier if it weren't for an errant snap that unplugged ISU's first drive, which reached Iowa's 5-yard line before the fumble.

That's what Jantz did. Iowa's defense didn't contain. It didn't provide much if any pressure. It broke five times in ISU's last six drives. It bent and then it broke.

The 2010 troubles that dogged Iowa's defense in the fourth quarter showed up all four quarters. The Hawkeyes allowed 56 percent on third down in fourth quarters last season. Iowa's defense simply couldn't get off the field Saturday, allowing ISU to convert 13 or 20 third downs and 2 of 2 on fourth.

"Getting contain is just getting out there and just trusting that you're doing your job and not worrying about the quarterback scrambling," defensive tackle Mike Daniels said. "You have to stay out there in open space. You can't give him open space to run in."

It's two weeks in. It's way too early to stamp Iowa's defense anything. Fact of the matter is the Hawkeyes are in the midst of replacing some top-shelf talent.

Five players from Iowa's 2010 defense are in the NFL. Throw in three more from the 2009 defense. Iowa has had 10 defenders in NFL camps the last two seasons.

Iowa's defense is and will be a work-in-progress for the short term and perhaps the entire season. Time is up, however, and Pittsburgh's no-huddle spread offense is up next week. After that, there's Northwestern's spread probably with quarterback Dan Persa, Michigan's Denard Robinson, Purdue's spread offense and finally Nebraska's Taylor Martinez and the Huskers' spread offense.

This is a sprint and a marathon for Iowa's defense.

"I don't have that answer," linebacker James Morris said when asked if there was a quick fix. "I'm just going to go back and work that much harder and try to put myself in the position to where the next time we have a game like this, Iowa will be on the winning side."