Warren, Pierson reach milestones in ISU loss

AMES - Mike Warren and Dale Pierson are on opposite ends of the spectrum concerning the time they have left with Iowa State football, but the milestones they reached were just as significant.

Warren crossed the threshold to become the first 1,000-yard rusher for the Cyclones in six years while Pierson tied the ISU single-season sack record. The 35-31 loss to No. 5 Oklahoma State sullies the enjoyment both players could take, but stamps their marks on the program, nonetheless.

'It means so much to me as it means to the O-line,” Warren said. 'I thank those guys a lot for helping me get there.”

The red-shirt freshman had 15 carries for 73 yards for the Cyclones and became the first ISU rusher to break 1,000 yards since Alexander Robinson in 2009. Warren's 1,070 yards ranks fourth all-time among Big 12 freshmen.

Pierson finished with a career-high 10 tackles against the Cowboys (10-0, 7-0), including a sack for two yards. The senior's 8.5 sacks tied the most by an Iowa State player in a single season with Shawn Moorehead in 2006.

'It felt good. I'm not satisfied yet,” Pierson said. 'I need to get at least one more so I can beat it. It felt good to get the sack, of course”

He spent two seasons at Pasadena Community College before picking up steam toward the end of his first season at Iowa State.

'He practices just like the devil every day,” Iowa State Coach Paul Rhoads said, 'and when you do that, good things happen.”

TD ruled incomplete

Iowa State was poised to go ahead of No. 5 Oklahoma State by two touchdowns when quarterback Joel Lanning rolled left and saw running back Trever Ryen in the end zone.

Lanning fired a low pass to Ryen, who scooped it up from just above his feet before tumbling to the ground. The play was initially ruled a touchdown - which would have given Iowa State a 20-7 lead, but review said Ryen trapped the ball forcing the officials to call the pass incomplete.

'With my naked eye, I saw a ball that sure looked like it was caught,” ISU Coach Paul Rhoads said. 'Obviously the officials on the field thought that it was caught.”

Phil Laurie, Big 12 Conference officials' observer, issued a statement after the game that the ruling on the incompletion was correctly reviewed in the booth.

'The end zone view, which came very late, shows the view of the point of the ball touching the ground and moving, which means that it was incomplete,” Laurie said. 'You can't have possession with the ball hitting the ground and moving. That's the rule.”

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