Iowa State trips on details in overtime loss to Iowa

AMES - The feeling in the locker room wasn't different.

There was still disappointment. Plenty of it.

Iowa State had opportunities to beat Iowa for the first time in three years, but drops and missed tackles ultimately had the Cyclones (1-1) on the wrong end of a 44-41 overtime loss to the Hawkeyes (2-0) on Saturday afternoon.

'At the end of it, if you're going to win that game, against a team where it's even, then you've got to make those plays,” said Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell. 'Unfortunately we didn't.”

The difference, though, in Iowa State losing tight games last year versus this one was how they viewed it internally. It isn't a crippling loss. It's a motivating one.

'We've just got more player ownership here, we don't point fingers, we understand this is a whole team thing,” said sophomore running back David Montgomery. 'We've definitely grown and got better over the year.”

Just as he did against Northern Iowa, Montgomery helped bring the Iowa State offense back from the dead. He finished with 112 rushing yards on 20 carries with one touchdown and five catches for 53 yards.

Montgomery punctuated a 21-point swing for Iowa State, which went from being down 21-10 midway through the third quarter to up 31-21 less than five minutes into the fourth quarter. Quarterback Jacob Park helped there too, and was 25-of-46 passing for 347 yards and four touchdowns with one interception.

'Iowa, they execute, they run what they run and it's not all that complicated,” Park said. 'They ran it to perfection.

'It's just a team that a lot of people think you have to come out here and out-physical these guys, you don't. You have to come out here and out-execute them and catch the ball and run the ball and that was our downfall today.”

Park connected with eight different receivers, who were led by sophomore Hakeem Butler with five catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Allen Lazard had six catches for 23 yards and two scores.

'This feeling in my heart right now, it hurts,” Butler said. 'We've got to bring it next year and just get a different outcome.”

The minor miscues were epitomized near the end of the fourth quarter and overtime. Iowa had the ball at midfield when quarterback Nate Stanley found running back Akrum Wadley on a slant pass that went 46 yards for a touchdown.

Butler had a drop on third and 8 that would have given Iowa State a first down at the 5-yard line in overtime, but instead forced a field goal. Iowa scored the game-deciding touchdown on its ensuing possession.

'It's a whole team thing,” Lazard said. 'It's not offense, defense or special teams, it's everyone through 120 or whatever it is of just being locked in and focused all week.”

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