Iowa State football gets right with 48-3 win at UNLV

AMES — Iowa State played like it was expected to when the season started.

After two sub-par games the offense found its rhythm and the defense continued to dominate as No. 14 Iowa State beat UNLV 48-3 on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Running back Breece Hall was finally able to break off some big runs and scored Iowa State’s first two touchdowns. He finished with 100 yards and two touchdowns. Hall got 83 of his yards and both touchdowns in the first half.

He tied the Big 12 record for most consecutive games with a rushing touchdown with 15. He’s tied with Missouri’s Corby Jones, who set the record in 1997-98.

“Breece did great,” quarterback Brock Purdy said after the game on CBS Sports Network. “He didn’t overthink anything and that’s when he’s great.”

Hall wasn’t the only offensive player to tie or break a record … or two.

Purdy found his rhythm as well against the Rebels (0-3). He set two career records on Saturday. The first was the Iowa State all-time yardage record with 10,638 yards. Bret Meyer held the record, which was 10,422 yards.

Purdy also became Iowa State’s all-time leader in passing yards, which was also held by Meyer when he threw for 9,499 yards in his career. Purdy’s new record currently sits at 9,607.

Purdy finished the game completing 21 of his 24 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 33 yards.

He found Xavier Hutchinson early and often. Hutchinson, who also hadn’t quite got his footing before the UNLV game, found his stride. Hutchinson caught a career-high 10 passes for a career-high 133 yards and two touchdowns.

After missing the first game due to injury and getting his feet wet against Iowa, Charlie Kolar also broke out. The tight end had a 33-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter and finished with four catches for 69 yards.

“Yeah the offense was good,” Purdy said. “It felt good to come out here and get some juice going, especially after last week. It was good to go out there and get it. Our offense was clicking on all cylinders.”

Iowa State (2-1) punted for the first time in the fourth quarter when the backups were in.

While the offense broke out of its funk, the defense continued to dominate opponents.

Linebackers Mike Rose and Gerry Vaughn led the defense with seven tackles and two tackles for loss.

Safety Isheem Young got his second interception of the season and added three tackles to his stat line.

“The defense is the heart and soul of our team,” Purdy said. “They get the offense going and we feed off of them.”

UNLV scored its lone points on a field goal while Iowa State's backups were in and UNLV still had its first-team offense on the field.

The Cyclones continue their road trip next week when they travel to Waco, Texas, to play Baylor.