Iowa State shatters high-profile records in Saturday's win over South Dakota

AMES — As the football traveled through the air with a high-velocity wobble, Kyle Konrardy’s internal smile broadened.

Iowa State’s sophomore walk-on placekicker had just launched what would be a program-record 63-yard field goal attempt toward the uprights, and as it reached its target, his grin only widened.

It was pushing a little bit left, so time just stops in that moment, said Konrardy, whose record-breaking boot punctuated the No. 22 Cyclones’ 55-7 rout over FCS No. 5 South Dakota before a sellout crowd of 61,500 Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium. “(But) you can tell as a kicker if it’s going in or not going in.”

And Konrardy had cardinal and gold-clad company going into the record books alongside him. ISU’s third-year starting quarterback Rocco Becht went 19-for-20 to set a new single-game program standard for accuracy (95 percent) and also threw three touchdown passes before sitting out most of the second half.

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“It feels pretty good,” Becht said after being informed his performance broke Seneca Wallace’s previous record of 22 of 24 in a game in 2001. “Obviously, you want to be perfect, but you’re never gonna have a game that you’re perfect in, so I think that’s what I’m kind of going back on, there’s never gonna be a game where I’m perfect; there (are) always gonna be areas where I need to get better for this team and we’ll be able to do that next week.”

The Cyclones (2-0, 1-0 Big 12) face in-state rival Iowa at 11 a.m. (FOX) next Saturday and if they can come remotely close to playing as efficiently as they did against the Coyotes (0-1) they could be well-positioned to notch their first home win in the Cy-Hawk series since 2011.

“I’m pretty excited,” said ISU safety Jamison Patton, whose interception on South Dakota’s second drive preserved what them seemed to be a precarious 14-7 lead. “It’s still anther game, but it’s the team (out) east, so pretty excited.”

Becht threw for 278 yards — an average of 13.3 yards per completion. He also connected with tight ends on 13 of those successful passes, and all three of his touchdown throws went to that position group, with Ben Brahmer scoring twice, and former Cedar Rapids Prairie star Gabe Burkle scoring once. Burkle led ISU with 85 receiving yards, helping to fuel a high-octane offense scored points in its first nine possessions.

“I think that group — and we’ve talked about that, that group is so mature in their preparation and their detail,” the Cyclones’ 10th-year head coach Matt Campbell said. “The fun thing, for me, is to see some of the other guys (score).”

Guys like transfer wide receiver Xavier Townsend, who rushed for an 1—yard touchdown while recording his first three career catches as a Cyclone. Guys like backup quarterback Alex Manske, who scored his first career touchdown on a four-yard plunge in the fourth quarter, then saw third-string tailback Dylan Lee do the same about six minutes later. Standout tailback Abu Sama scored his team’s second touchdown on a 15-yard run out of the Wildcat formation.

But nothing brought the sellout crowd to its feet more than Konrardy’s record-shattering field goal, which came at the end of the first half and gave ISU a 27-7 lead.

His historic kick easily eclipsed the Cyclones’ previous program record of 58 yards set by Ty Stewart (twice in 1993) and Alex Giffords (1979). It’s also tied for the ninth-longest field goal in NCAA history. The previous stadium record — a 62-yarder by Air Force’s Dave Lawson — stood for 50 years.

“He made it, he sunk it, and he probably could have made it from farther than that,” said Becht, who was also unaware that Konrardy’s field goal had attained record-breaking status. “It was pretty cool to watch.”

So who was one of the first of Konrardy’s teammates to mob him after he made history? Becht, of course.

“Obviously, Rocco having a great game was awesome,” said Konrardy, who drilled a 54-yard game winner in the Cyclones’ 20-19 win in Iowa City last season. “And him being able to support me in that moment was really cool, too.”

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