Iowa State 20, Iowa 17: Speech, speech

IOWA CITY - Iowa State linebacker Jevohn Miller had a bit of a cut on his upper lip. He didn't seem to mind. Or really even notice. Nope, not feeling any pain at all.

The senior had just caught his breath from sprinting over to the Iowa sideline, hoisting the 100-plus pound Cy-Hawk Trophy and singing the Cyclones' fight song with the ISU band in the north end zone.

Iowa State was the team that came into Kinnick Stadium with all the questions on Saturday. The Cyclones (1-2) lost to an FCS team at home in their opener. They fought but fell to top-20 Kansas State last week. Iowa (2-1) didn't come into this with a sterling resume, but it had found a way to win.

This time, Iowa State found inspiration. Kicker Cole Netten drilled a 42-yarder with two seconds left to life ISU, 20-17, over the Hawkeyes before 70,585 fans.

'You could see a little doubt in guys' eyes last week,” said Miller, who led an ISU defensive charge that stifled Iowa. 'Coach [Paul Rhoads] gave a speech in the locker room. You could go through the locker room, look anyone in the eye and there was no doubt in their mind what we were going to do in the second half.”

No, Iowa didn't get beat by a speech. Iowa got beat by a hot quarterback, a defense that changed all of its tires between weeks 1 and 3 and a kicker who munched the pressure like a sweet, juicy pepperoni pizza.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz tried that freeze thing, and, yes, Netten heard the timeout before he kicked the ball, which sailed wide left.

'One of the main things I was doing was just staying calm, just being confident in myself, knowing my ability to kick field goals,” said Netten, who bested his career long (41) twice on Saturday (47 and 42 yards). 'That's what I'm here to do. Just do your job and don't let any doubt in your mind.”

So, what did Rhoads say at halftime? Was it a classic Rhoads moment?

'I don't know,” Miller said with a laugh, kind of at a loss for words (that trophy is heavy). 'It was a good speech, I don't know.”

After the game, the Cyclones' fight song rang through the hallways under the south end zone stands.

'One of the themes for the week was that we couldn't have any doubt that we were going to win the game,” Rhoads said. 'We were down at halftime time and beating ourselves in a lot of ways. There was no hesitation. It was an intent, focused group.”

On the Iowa side, the offense is a mess. The Hawkeyes gained just 275 yards on 68 plays (Iowa's fewest yards against ISU since 2008). ISU's defense allowed 6.8 yards a play coming into Kinnick. Iowa gained just 4.0, including an abysmal 3.64 in the second half.

'You guys might make it out to be more than this is with Iowa State, but a loss is a loss,” said Iowa QB Jake Rudock, who completed 16 of 24 for 146 yards, no TDs and a pick. 'It sucks right now.”

Offensive tackle Brandon Scherff played despite having an arthroscopic knee surgery on Tuesday morning. Iowa allowed four sacks, ISU's most since TCU in 2012. Here's your about-face number: Iowa rushed 60 times for 218 yards against this Cyclones last year. This year, Iowa averaged 2.9 yards on 44 carries.

'We'll look at everybody,” Ferentz said. 'We have to play better as a team and we have to coach better, and that starts right here.”

After the first half, this looked like a done deal. Iowa held a 14-3 lead. Quarterback Jake Rudock led a 16-play, 7:54 drive that gave Iowa a 7-0 lead after running back Mark Weisman crashed in from the 1. Rudock ran an option play in from the 5 for the 14-3 lead.

And that was that for the Iowa offense. The Cyclones put on a sleeper hold. Strong safety T.J. Mutcherson picked off Rudock to set up ISU's first TD, a Sam Richardson 1-yard jump pass to tight end E.J. Bibbs.

With 7:33 left in the game, Richardson hit running back DeVonrick Nealy, who left linebacker Reggie Spearman in the contrails, for a 27-yard TD and a 17-14 ISU lead.

'Trying to get it on the perimeter was a huge part of our gameplan,” said Richardson, who finished 25 of 37 for 255 yards, two TDs and no interceptions. 'It's a bigger defense than we'll face all year. With that, I thought we had more speed on them. Getting those guys in space worked out for us.”

Iowa finally countered, but only after the field goal unit lined up without a field goal kicker. As the playclock ran down, holder Dillon Kidd took his knee, looked back and saw no kicker.

He threw his arms in the air and looked toward the sideline, kind of like everyone else in the stadium ... and on the Internet ... and watching on TV.

'I went to run out there coach [Chris] White was calling for Mick [Ellis, Iowa's other kicker],” said Marshall Koehn, the eventual kicker and who made the 44-yarder to tie it with 4:08 left. 'I still ran out there because time was running down, that's how that went down.”

Let's scout out some enduring images from seniors. First, ISU defensive end Cory Morrissey, who had two sacks and three tackles for loss: 'The rivalry goes year-round. To come here, come out on top, and I end on top, that's great for me.”

And Iowa linebacker Quinton Alston: 'It's the last time I'll ever play them. It stings a lot more than for a lot of other guys on the team.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@sourcemedia.net