FOOTBALL: Cyclones struggle all around in 35-7 loss to Nebraska
Iowa State's Austen Arnaud, 4, walks off the locker room during the halftime of the game against Nebraska on Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium. The Cyclone offense, which put together 218 total offensive yards, was out-matched by the Cornhusker offense, which tallied-up 548 total offensive yards, by 330 yards during the 35-7 loss. Photo: Josh Harrell/Iowa State Daily
By Corey Aldritt — Daily Staff Writer
ISU players and coaches felt they had moved on from a 38-10 loss to Baylor.
Instead, the Cyclones were outgained by 330 yards in their 35-7 lopsided loss to Nebraska.
Iowa State cut the lead to 21-7 early in the second half but failed to find any kind of rhythm after that.
“It’s really disappointing — very disheartening. I’m very proud of our guys because they keep fighting, but at some point that’s not good enough,” said head coach Gene Chizik.
The ISU offense only had two plays inside the red zone in a game where the Cyclones forced five fumbles and recovered three of them.
“We’re out of sync offensively. We’re not consistent at all,” Chizik said.
To say the offense was out of sync would be an understatement. The Cyclones managed only 218 yards of offense. Roughly one-third of those yards came on Alexander Robinson’s 67-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
“We went three and out multiple times, we didn’t help the defense out at all today,” Chizik said.
The defense had their worst game of the season as well, allowing Nebraska to move the ball at will — compiling 548 yards.
“It’s definitely frustrating. We work hard — this isn’t what we work for or what we expect,” defensive end Kurtis Taylor said. “We’re not going to hang our heads and go in the tank by any means.”
Saturday’s loss is Iowa State’s fifth straight and brings the Cyclone record to 2-5 and 0-3 in the Big 12. The Cyclones have now started 0-3 in the Big 12 for six straight seasons.
“We got to find that even-keel, we got to find that medium zone where we can ride out the bad times and play through it,” said quarterback Austen Arnaud.
The current streak of bad play can be traced back to the second half against Kansas on Oct. 4. The Cyclones went into halftime up 20-0 over Kansas in their Big 12 opener. From that point on, Iowa State has been outscored 108-30 in the last two-and-a-half games.
“Since the first half of the Kansas [game], right now as a football team, we have gone backwards,” Chizik said.
The game started out well for the Cyclones when defensive tackle Stephen Ruempolhamer recovered quarterback Joe Ganz’s fumble. With good field position, the Cyclones went three and out and punted the ball back to the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska drove 92 yards on their second drive of the game and scored on a 19-yard pass from Ganz to Nate Swift. Nebraska went on to score two more touchdowns in the half to lead 21-0 at halftime.
The Cornhuskers tallied 19 first downs in the first half to Iowa State’s two.
“We did have a bad first half — the second half was a little better but it really wasn’t much better,” Chizik said.
The score remained 21-7 for the majority of the second half before Nebraska muscled in two more touchdowns near the end of the game.
“We can’t beat down on each other and can’t point the finger at one another. It’s got to all come together and let this come together as one and then we’ll get all the wins that we need,” said defensive back Kennard Banks.
Instead, the Cyclones were outgained by 330 yards in their 35-7 lopsided loss to Nebraska.
Iowa State cut the lead to 21-7 early in the second half but failed to find any kind of rhythm after that.
“It’s really disappointing — very disheartening. I’m very proud of our guys because they keep fighting, but at some point that’s not good enough,” said head coach Gene Chizik.
The ISU offense only had two plays inside the red zone in a game where the Cyclones forced five fumbles and recovered three of them.
“We’re out of sync offensively. We’re not consistent at all,” Chizik said.
To say the offense was out of sync would be an understatement. The Cyclones managed only 218 yards of offense. Roughly one-third of those yards came on Alexander Robinson’s 67-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
“We went three and out multiple times, we didn’t help the defense out at all today,” Chizik said.
The defense had their worst game of the season as well, allowing Nebraska to move the ball at will — compiling 548 yards.
“It’s definitely frustrating. We work hard — this isn’t what we work for or what we expect,” defensive end Kurtis Taylor said. “We’re not going to hang our heads and go in the tank by any means.”
Saturday’s loss is Iowa State’s fifth straight and brings the Cyclone record to 2-5 and 0-3 in the Big 12. The Cyclones have now started 0-3 in the Big 12 for six straight seasons.
“We got to find that even-keel, we got to find that medium zone where we can ride out the bad times and play through it,” said quarterback Austen Arnaud.
The current streak of bad play can be traced back to the second half against Kansas on Oct. 4. The Cyclones went into halftime up 20-0 over Kansas in their Big 12 opener. From that point on, Iowa State has been outscored 108-30 in the last two-and-a-half games.
“Since the first half of the Kansas [game], right now as a football team, we have gone backwards,” Chizik said.
The game started out well for the Cyclones when defensive tackle Stephen Ruempolhamer recovered quarterback Joe Ganz’s fumble. With good field position, the Cyclones went three and out and punted the ball back to the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska drove 92 yards on their second drive of the game and scored on a 19-yard pass from Ganz to Nate Swift. Nebraska went on to score two more touchdowns in the half to lead 21-0 at halftime.
The Cornhuskers tallied 19 first downs in the first half to Iowa State’s two.
“We did have a bad first half — the second half was a little better but it really wasn’t much better,” Chizik said.
The score remained 21-7 for the majority of the second half before Nebraska muscled in two more touchdowns near the end of the game.
“We can’t beat down on each other and can’t point the finger at one another. It’s got to all come together and let this come together as one and then we’ll get all the wins that we need,” said defensive back Kennard Banks.
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