Iowa State looks ahead to rest of Big 12 slate after ‘necessary’ win over Kansas

AMES — Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads talked about an 'awareness of reality' as his team, sitting at 1-2, prepared for its matchup with Kansas.

The reality was the Cyclones, a 20-point favorite, needed to assert themselves against a reeling Jayhawks team that hadn't won a road game in six years. Losing 12-straight Big 12 openers also stared Iowa State in the face, and ending losing streaks was on everybody's mind.

'It was absolutely necessary after starting 1-2 in the nonconference,' quarterback Sam Richardson said of the 38-13 ISU win. 'We really have no choice but to start getting a little momentum here and win some games. If we want to accomplish what we want to, you've got to get some wins going.'

Saturday's win marked the end of the Cyclones' (2-2, 1-0) nine-game losing streak to Big 12 opponents and was the first Big 12 home win since a 34-0 victory against the Jayhawks (0-4, 0-1) in 2013.

Losing in double overtime at Toledo was two weeks in the past, but the ISU running game picked up where it left off and the Cyclones went for 243 yards. Red-shirt freshman Mike Warren ran for 175 yards on 18 carries — breaking the single game record for an ISU freshman — but just as important, the Cyclones didn't hurt themselves with mistakes.

Against the Rockets, Iowa State accumulated 14 penalties for 113 yards, but cut that down to just two for 10 yards against Kansas. The first penalty didn't come until the final minute of the third quarter on an ineligible receiver call on a trick play and for Rhoads, among a handful of reasons, that was a big piece of what changed in two weeks.

'The little things are the ways to win. The penalties were a big deal,' Rhoads said. 'We tackled better overall and we were aggressive in our tackling. 38 points. In this league you've got to score and we went out and scored today as a football team.'

Thirty-eight points was the highest output since Iowa State scored 45 in Oct. 2014 against Texas, but to have success the next three weeks, that number will likely need to stay high. The Cyclones will face Texas Tech, TCU and Baylor the next three weeks and each team is averaging at least 50 points per game.

Getting that taste of confidence by winning a Big 12 game for the first time since Nov. 30, 2013 was the first step toward the remaining two-thirds of the season.

'Man it's a big deal,' said linebacker Willie Harvey. 'Your confidence is up and no matter who you play in the Big 12 or whoever you beat, your confidence is up. It's big for us.'

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