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No. 22 Iowa State breaks records in 55-7 home season-opening win over South Dakota
Rocco Becht threw only one incompletion in the first half and walk-on kicker Kyle Konrardy kicked a school record 63-yard field goal in the Cyclones win over South Dakota
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AMES — Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht threw a grand total of one incompletion in the first half of Saturday’s home opener against South Dakota at Jack Trice Stadium. The skilled junior went 17-for-18 through the air for 247 yards and a pair of touchdowns to tight end Ben Brahmer before the break, helping the No. 22 Cyclones (2-0) take a 27-7 halftime lead.
But somehow Becht’s first-half performance wasn’t the most impressive feat for an ISU player during a stress-free 55-7 win over the FCS No. 5 Coyotes.
Enter walk-on kicker Kyle Konrardy.
The strong-legged sophomore from Dubuque boomed a school and stadium-record 63-yard field goal through the uprights as the first-half clock hit zeroes — and elicited a rousing cheer from a sold-out crowd of 61,500 on a partly cloudy, but richly enjoyed warm late summer’s day in central Iowa.
It got even better for the home team immediately after halftime.
After the Cyclones’ defense forced the Yotes to punt on their first drive of the second half, walk-on running back Aidan Flora fielded the ensuing punt at the 1-yard line and jetted 99 yards to the end zone. While initially ruled a touchdown on the field, officials determined that Flora stepped out at the 33-yard line — a still impressive return of 66 yards.
Four plays later, Becht hit tight end Gabe Burkle for a 16-yard touchdown to put ISU ahead 34-7 with 9:39 left in the third quarter. It was the second career scoring grab for Burkle, a former Cedar Rapids Prairie star. And Becht — who hiked his early-season touchdown-to-interception ratio to 5-to-0 — threw three touchdown passes in a game for the sixth time in his career.
ISU improved to 10-0 all-time against South Dakota in the first meeting between the schools since 1959.
Becht ended up going 19 of 20 (a school-record 95 percent completion rate) through the air for 278 yards and the three touchdowns before sitting out most of the second half. Brahmer led the Cyclones with seven receptions. Burkle led the team in receiving yards with 85. Flora later added a 51-yard punt return to give him an eye-popping average of 59 yards per attempt.
But back to Konrardy. His historic kick eclipsed the Cyclones’ previous program record of 58 yards set by Ty Stewart (twice in 1993) and Alex Giffords (1979). It’s also tied for the ninth-longest field goal in NCAA history. The previous stadium record — a 62-yarder by Air Force’s Dave Lawson — stood for 50 years.
South Dakota quarterback Aidan Bouman, who served as a backup at ISU for two seasons, went 15 for 29 for 126 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The first pick, deftly snared by Cyclone junior safety Jamison Patton near the goal line on the Yotes’ second drive of the game, preserved a 14-7 lead and presaged a 41-0 ISU scoring splurge.
UCF transfer receiver Xavier Townsend added an 11-yard touchdown run — the first of his Cyclone career — midway through the third quarter to make the score 41-7. ISU backup quarterback Alex Manske added his first career touchdown on a 4-yard run with 10:57 left, and backup tailback Dylan Lee did the same on an 8-yard run with 4:22 remaining.
The Cyclones face instate rival Iowa at 11 a.m. next Saturday (Fox) at Jack Trice Stadium.
Comments: robgray18@icloud.com
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