ISU sneaks by UNI

AMES - The California connection kept on clicking.

But so did the clock.

Steele Jantz' lackluster - then electrifying - Iowa State debut ended in a twisting third-down sneak to the end zone with 40 seconds left and capped a sloppy, then frantic 20-19 win over gutsy Northern Iowa last night at Jack Trice Stadium.

“I told (Jantz) after the game, he finally did things I've never seen him do,” said ISU Coach Paul Rhoads, who saw Jantz complete 18 of 40 passes for 187 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions before 54,672 fans - the fourth most to gather for a Cyclone home game.

“There were throws that he made off the wrong foot, throws he made with is hips open. But we saw flashes of what he is and what he can be.”

As for the California connection - between former City College of San Francisco teammates Jantz and Aaron Horne, it accounted for the biggest play of the game, a 32-yard pass that set the stage for the tense final moments.

Horne led the Cyclones with seven catches for 69 yards.

“That is a great connection,” Rhoads said. “We'd like to see it have an opportunity to develop even more.”

Jantz threw for 117 of his 187 yards in the fourth quarter.

“Bottom line, our team found a way to win,” Rhoads said.

The Panthers had sent pulses pounding seconds before what turned out to be Iowa State's winning drive when quarterback Tirrell Rennie connected with running back David Johnson for an 80-yard touchdown with 4:17 left.

That gave Northern Iowa a 19-14 lead before a failed two-point conversion attempt.

And that came on the heels of Jantz's scrambling 26-yard touchdown pass to Josh Lenz with 4:30 remaining.

Lenz knelt to gather the ball inches from the sideline in the end zone.

A review upheld it as a touchdown and the Cyclones led 14-13 - only to trail again 13 seconds later.

It was a choppy game, marred by 24 penalties.

The Panthers were whistled for 16 of them, including three on one play on ISU's first touchdown drive that made the score 7-6 at the end of the first half.

But the miscues and mental mistakes seemed behind UNI when it embarked on a stunning 22-play, 90-yard drive that spanned 10:43 and resulted in Johnson's first touchdown that made the score 13-7.

UNI faced eight third-down situations on the drive and converted them all, although one doesn't technically count since it came by penalty.

Still, 7-for-7 isn't bad.

Not by - or for - a long shot.

Rennie, who rushed for a game-high 127 yards and threw for 181, danced and darted to six of those conversions.

The last one came on Johnson's 1-yard run to the end zone.

“You saw their team speed, you saw their ability to stop us,” Rhoads said of the Panthers. “All the credit in the world to them.”

The Cyclones won for the seventh time in the past 10 meetings and improved to 8-1 against the Panthers in season openers.

UNI shocked ISU 24-13 in 2007 and suffered a 27-0 setback last season.

The Panthers forced four turnovers - three in the first half - and outgained ISU for the second straight year, 385 to 328.

“Our football team has a great amount of respect for UNI's football team,” Rhoads said.