Iowa State bum rushes West Virginia, improves to 6-0

West Virginia wore black, in a first “Coal Rush” event Saturday night against No. 11 Iowa State at home.

The Mountaineers marched down the field to take a 7-0 lead with a nearly eight-minute touchdown drive to start the game, but after that, all the steam settled over the Cyclones’ sideline.

The final score: ISU 28, West Virginia 16.

And the waning moments? Just a few thousand Mountaineers fans remained in Milan Puskar Stadium as the game clock drained — and the Cyclones improved to 6-0 for the first time since 1938.

“I think our kids had great poise early,” ISU head coach Matt Campbell said on the Cyclone Radio Network. “It’s a great football environment, and I think our (approach) was the louder they get, the harder we play. I think our kids did that. I think we settled in.”

ISU quarterback Rocco Becht completed 16 of 28 passes for 265 yards and a 60-yard touchdown to Jaylin Noel. Tailback Carson Hansen rushed for 96 yards and three touchdowns.

The Cyclones forced two turnovers — interceptions by Jontez Williams and Jamison Patton — to help seal their unprecedented sixth straight conference road win.

“If we want to be the team we want to be, we’re going to need to do (little) things at a really high rate,” Campbell said.

ISU converted nine of its 14 third-down chances and wide receiver Jayden Higgins eclipsed the 100-yard receiving barrier for the second time as a Cyclone.

Becht shined on a night when his dad, Anthony, was inducted into the West Virginia Hall of Fame. His father starred for the Mountaineers before embarking on a strong NFL career.

“I thought we settled into the football game, a lot of young guys playing on defense to start the game,” Campbell said.

Iowa State’s had coach didn’t delve into big picture thinking after the tough road win — and for good reason.

The Cyclones (6-0, 3-0) may be the Big 12 Conference’s front runners (along with BYU), but no hiccups are allowed as they seek to wind toward the league title game.

“If we’re gonna be the team we want to be, we’ve got to execute at a really high rate,” Campbell said.

ISU did just that against the amped-up Mountaineeers, who had totaled almost 600 yards of offense in last week’s blow win at Oklahoma State.

The Jon Heacock-led Cyclones defense held them to 354 yards on Saturday — with lots of that yardage coming late in the game.

“I think that’s one of the great things about being in a system that you know and you’re really confident in, is you’ve got the ability to make adjustments,” Campbell said. “I think that we’ve been in this system long enough that we know what our answers are, and as the game goes on, we put our kids in the best situation possible.”

Jontez Williams grabbed an interception for the third straight game. Noel tied Breece Hall and Hakeem Butler for the most 50-yard-plus-yard touchdown receptions (seven) in school history since at least 1971.

The Cyclones are 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 2020 and the third time in school history.

“I think we’ve been in this system long enough that we know what our answers are,” Campbell said. “And as the game goes, how do we put our kids in the best situations.”

ISU is riding high for good reason, because it controls its own destiny.

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