Iowa State football notes: On ‘sneaky’ trick play, Darien Porter’s punt blocking prowess

AMES — Iowa State tight end Ben Brahmer’s eyes lit up when the play came in. The Cyclones already led Arkansas State 17-0 late in the first half of Saturday’s 52-7 romp at Jack Trice Stadium — and facing a third-and-1 situation, quarterback Rocco Becht faked running a sneak. Brahmer slipped down the middle of the field instead and Becht hit him for a sprawling one-handed 24-yard grab that set up fellow tight end Tyler Moore’s second career touchdown.

“I knew (that play) was coming at some point,” said Brahmer, who made three catches for 73 yards as his 20th-ranked team improved to 3-0. “So I was pretty excited.”

That bit of trickery has been in the playbook for a while, ISU head coach Matt Campbell said, so when offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser chose to implement it, he winced and smiled simultaneously.

“When Coach Mouser called that, there was this brief second for me of, like, pause,” said Campbell, who is now tied with Dan McCarney for the most wins in program history with 56.

“This is why it’s nice to have young guys calling plays sometimes because the old guys almost shiver in their spine,” Campbell said of his 33-year-old offensive play-caller. “But it’s also great to have great guys make great plays, like I told Coach Mouser, I think that catch was one of the most incredible catches I’ve seen.”

Mouser didn’t need to be very creative most of Saturday, as the Cyclones racked up 127 rushing yards in the first half alone en route to a 31-0 halftime lead. ISU’s defense forced four turnovers and nearly notched its first shutout win since 2020, but the Red Wolves (2-2) finally managed to score a touchdown with 4:53 remaining.

“It really doesn’t matter,” said Cyclone safety Malik Verdon, who grabbed one of his team’s two interceptions Saturday. “A win is a win. We played good team offense and defense — and special teams, can’t forget about that. But it’s not a big deal.”

Darein Porter’s blocked punt

Speaking of special teams, ISU’s senior cornerback Darien Porter continues to shine in that area. The former track star notched his fourth career blocked punt in the first half that set up the Cyclones’ first touchdown drive of the game.

“To be able to do that, you have to have elite fundamentals and detail in what you do,” Campbell said of Porter, the nation’s active leader in blocked punts. “You can’t have a misstep. You’ve gotta be precise. You’ve gotta be able to be right there at the right (time) — and it looked like a perfect snap and a perfect punt to be honest with you. I think the get-off time was 2.0 (seconds), which is standard, and I think Darien was 1.95 (seconds), which is pretty darn good.”

Notable stats from Iowa State’s win over Arkansas State

* ISU held Arkansas State to 182 total yards, marking the ninth time Jon Heacock’s defense has limited a foe to fewer than 200 yards.

* Cyclone senior receiver Jaylin Noel caught two passes for 49 yards and has recorded at least one reception in 35 straight games. That’s the fourth-longest streak in school history and fourth-longest active streak nationally.

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com