Iowa State football notes: Brock Purdy fades late against Iowa

AMES — Brock Purdy was immaculate in the first half Saturday against Iowa and subpar in the second.

He went 12 of 13 with 86 yards passing in the first 30 minutes. To start the third quarter, Purdy hit receiver Tarique Milton for a 73-yard touchdown to give Iowa State a 14-6 lead.

After that, though, it was a different story. Purdy was 12 of 20 and missed two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, one to Charlie Kolar and another to La'Michael Pettway.

No. 19 Iowa beat Iowa State 18-17 after figuring out how to slow down Purdy. Iowa has won five straight in the Cy-Hawk series.

Overall, Purdy played well, and played a complete game, he just didn't finish the game.

Against Northern Iowa two weeks ago, he didn't have any designed runs and the only scramble he had got called back for a hold.

Against Iowa (3-0), Purdy had several designed runs and scrambled when he needed to. He was Iowa State's (1-1) second leading rusher, running the ball nine times for 34 yards. At halftime, Purdy was the only Iowa State player with more than one rush, with five for 33 yards.

Against UNI, he targeted Deshaunte Jones 16 times, who ended up with 14 receptions for 126 yards. Kolar had the second-most receptions with four for 45 yards.

Against Iowa, Purdy spread the ball around, hitting seven different receivers. Four receivers had four receptions or more. Milton led the Cyclones with eight catches for 144 yards.

Iowa's third downs

Iowa State's defense largely played well, allowing just 4.3 yards per play. And the only Iowa touchdown came when it got the ball at the Iowa State 25 after a horrific Cyclones offensive series and punt.

But the defense had a hard time getting off the field when it needed to. Iowa converted on 10 of its 19 third-down attempts.

Because of that, the Hawkeyes controlled the time of possession and slowly wore down the Cyclones on the short touchdown drive. Iowa had the ball for 34:58 compared to Iowa State's 25:02.

On the game-winning drive, Iowa methodically and purposefully moved the ball down the field to get into field-goal range for kicker Keith Duncan, who made four field goals on the day.

Eisworth elite

Iowa State safety Greg Eisworth proved his worth last season leading the team in tackles with 87 in 12 games. He was named the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year for his efforts.

Saturday against Iowa, Eisworth was everywhere for Iowa State, playing maybe his best game as a Cyclone. He defended the pass well and made the tackle soon after a Hawkeye caught it if he allowed the catch. In the run game, he played downhill well and made stops for minimal Iowa gains.

Eisworth led the Cyclones with 15 tackles and one pass breakup, which came in the fourth quarter when Iowa State still had a chance.

His career high was 14 tackles against Oklahoma last season.

Offensive line shuffle

Iowa State center Colin Newell didn't play Saturday with a knee sprain, so Campbell was forced to shuffle his offensive line.

Collin Olson slid from left guard to center and Iowa State inserted Trevor Downing into Olson's left guard spot.

Despite the shuffle, Iowa State's line played relatively well, allowing just one sack and letting the running backs average 4.8 yards per carry.

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