Iowa State snaps 12-game Big 12 road losing streak with 31-24 win at Kansas

LAWRENCE, Kan. — A conference road win had eluded the Iowa State football team for nearly three full years.

There were a lot of things Coach Matt Campbell was looking forward to when that win finally came, with one of them being he wouldn't have to spend time answering questions about the drought.

Against a one-win Kansas team, he got his wish.

'It's something to build on,' Campbell said following a 31-24 Iowa State (2-8, 1-6) win at Kansas (1-9, 0-7) Saturday. 'If you want to win championships, and I just told our team that's my goal and it's why I came here, then the reality of that is you've got to win on the road and you've got to win in the month of November.

'That's a great lesson to learn.'

Iowa State isn't in a position to be winning football championships, but closing out a close game against a Big 12 opponent was a big hurdle to clear for a team with five losses by 10 points or less this season.

The offense racked up 400-plus yards (458) for the fifth time in the last seven games and produced a 150-plus yard rusher while holding its opponent to 52 yards in the final quarter, but a sluggish start put the Cyclones in a precarious spot.

Iowa State took a 3-0 lead early, but amassed just 77 total yards while quarterbacks Joel Lanning and Jacob Park combined for 1-for-6 passing, 15 yards and an interception. Kansas went ahead 14-3 three seconds into the second quarter.

Then players sensed something beginning to click.

'Once we were getting our stuff beat in at the beginning of the game, we kind of woke up a little bit and started playing for each other,' said wide receiver Allen Lazard, who had 10 catches for 120 yards. 'We started making plays on both sides of the ball.'

Lazard started his first quarter with two drops — one he tipped up for a Kansas interception in the ISU red zone — then for the final 45 minutes furthered his place in ISU wide receiver history.

His 10 catches were a career-high, he tied for second in school history with 15 touchdown catches and completed his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season. His 159 career receptions ranks third in ISU history.

'I think (there was) just maybe a little lack of focus early, but you've got to hang with a guy like that because I think he's earned equity,' Campbell said of Lazard. 'You talk about your players earning equity in your bank and that's what you've done in the past.'

Most of Iowa State's stagnation came in the first quarter, but the rest of the game wasn't without its blemishes. Kicker Cole Netten missed a PAT after a botched hold on a potential game-tying kick. The offense failed to convert two two-point conversion attempts, but was able to overcome most of it due largely to a prolific ground attack.

Freshman running back David Montgomery got his second-career start and produced his best game to date, with 24 carries and 169 yards. He became the 10th ISU frosh with 100-plus yards in a season and his 46-yard burst was the longest Cyclones running play of the season.

Montgomery 46 yard run that set up Lanning's TD run! November 12, 2016

Montgomery 46 yard run that set up Lanning's TD run! #Cyclones lead 28-24 with 11:37 left in the 4th https://t.co/oUk7dVaqDG

— Cyclone Football (@CycloneFB)

Redshirt senior Mitchell Harger had eight carries for 58 yards and a touchdown, all on one third-quarter drive, and sophomore Mike Warren had three carries for 17 yards.

'I think all it does is it continues to create great competition amongst our program, because we've got players at that position, we know that,' Campbell said. 'I think we're finally starting to get where we want to be at the tailback position here at Iowa State, which is great.'

Iowa State scored 15 points during the final 15:10 to secure the win and cornerback Jomal Wiltz sealed it with an interception with just more than two minutes remaining.

Wiltz Interception to seal the win for Iowa State 31-24! November 12, 2016

Wiltz Interception to seal the win for Iowa State 31-24! https://t.co/kbPtL4Z9m9

— Cyclone Football (@CycloneFB)

Park was 20-for-26 passing for 205 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Lanning was 1-for-4 passing for 15 yards and added five carries for nine yards and extended the ISU lead with a one-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.

The win snapped Iowa State's five-game losing streak (San Jose State), 10-game conference losing streak (Texas, 2015), 12-game conference road game losing streak (West Virginia, 2013) and 14-game overall road losing streak (Iowa, 2014).

Campbell: Harger 'the difference' in ISU's win

'(Getting a win) means everything,' Harger said. 'I want (the young players) to see that there is a brighter future there, there's so much to look forward to.'

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