Iowa State football now 5-0 as blocked-punt TD fuels win over Baylor

AMES — Iowa State walk-on defensive back Caden Matson watched the football spin, then made chase, zeroing in as it bounded — against all wobbly odds — right into his hip pocket.

His first career blocked punt recovery for a touchdown hung in the balance Saturday night against Baylor and two words popped into his head in the critical moment: “Oh, God.”

“It kind hopped and kind of caught — it sat right in there,” said Matson, whose subsequent 25-yard jaunt to the end zone in the No. 16 Cyclones’ 43-21 win over the Bears created a mammoth shift in momentum late in the first half. “It was kind of meant to be, a little bit, so, yeah, it was cool.”

Refreshing, too.

ISU — which is 5-0 for the first time in 44 years — trailed 14-12 at the time.

Reserve defensive end Myles Mendeszoon powered past obstacles to block the punt. Matson, a former Humboldt star, did the rest, giving the Cyclones their first blocked punt recovery for a touchdown since 2004, when LaMarcus Hicks scooped up Ellis Hobbs’s deflection.

It also gave ISU its second game-changing special teams play of the season, joining walk-on kicker Kyle Konrardy’s game-winning 54-yard field goal in the 20-19 win at then-No. 21 Iowa.

“The ‘who’ is what’s even more rewarding,” said Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell, whose team overcame a spate of injuries during the game. “Caden Matson has kind of been just a warrior for this program, and a kid that just keeps showing up. (He) obviously gets the touchdown but we felt like there was an opportunity maybe to take a shot (at a punt block) in the game.”

The results of that “shot” served as a spark for ISU quarterback Rocco Becht, who completed 16 of 25 passes for 277 yards, two touchdowns, and one costly interception at Baylor’s goal line with 27 seconds left in the first half. Thirteen of those completions went to Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, who combined for 214 receiving yards. Higgins also secured a jump-ball 11-yard touchdown throw from Becht that essentially sealed the win late in the third quarter. Higgins extended his program record for consecutive games with a touchdown catch to seven — and eclipsed 100 receiving yards for the first time this season.

“There (are) some guys that are just, you know, human erasers,” Becht said of Higgins. “And (he’s) a human eraser show. Whenever the ball’s up in the air, he’s either going to get it or it’s going to be a PI. So just continuing to get that guy the ball, we’re going to keep winning games.”

Same goes for transfer tailback Jaylon Jackson, who turned 15 carries into an ISU-career-high 170 yards and two touchdowns. Carson Hansen added 97 yards on the ground to the Cyclones’ season-high total of 265 as his team averaged a head-turning 7.7 yards-per-play.

“The other running backs were kind of giving me a little mess (because) I hadn’t scored a touchdown yet,” said the 5-7, 180-pound Jackson, who’s sprung 50-yard runs on foes in two straight games. “I told them I wanted to be here in this type of environment.”

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A sold-out, whiteout-clad crowd of 61,500 created that atmosphere and ISU — despite some early miscues — responded, recording its most lopsided win in the series over the Bears since 2001. The Cyclones’ offense eclipsed the 500-yard mark in a game for the first time in three years and the defense held Baylor scoreless in the last 17 minutes of the game.

“I appreciate our team not panicking when it was a little bit, maybe, not the start we probably want to have in the football game,” Campbell said. “Our kids understood we need to play 60 minutes.”

Cornerback Jontez Williams added another highlight with a touchdown-saving interception in the end zone. ISU’s offense produced nine plays spanning 20 or more yards, but special teams play spurred the Cyclones the most after falling behind 14-3 early.

“Special teams is really definitive of the character of your team in a lot of ways, right?” said Campbell, whose team will play under the lights at surging West Virginia (3-2, 2-0) next Saturday in Morgantown. “I know we talked a lot before the season started, ‘What makes this team unique?’ At least so far, there’s been a great buy-in value from the top of the roster to the bottom of the roster.”

Matson knows where he stands in that pecking order — and he’s cool with that. Thrilled, actually.

“Everybody just puts their head down and grinds,” he said. “It literally doesn’t matter who it is. It’s not like we’re treated differently or anything. We just go out there and execute the way we’ve been coached.”

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