The 22nd-ranked Cyclones left nothing to chance in their return home following an overseas trip to open the season, throttling FCS-power South Dakota 55-7 on Saturday afternoon at Jack Trice Stadium.
Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht put together a near-flawless performance in the home opener, completing 19-of-20 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns.
Tight ends Ben Brahmer and Gabe Burkle caught the three touchdown passes. Brahmer opened the scoring with a four-yard touchdown and followed in the opening minutes of the second quarter by grabbing a three-yarder, finishing with a game-high seven receptions for 47. Burkle hauled in a 16-yarder early in the third quarter, finishing with four receptions for 85.
But it wasn’t just the tight ends who made impacts. Becht’s first pass of the game hit wide receiver Brett Eskildsen in stride for 66 yards, and the sophomore added another reception for 11 more. Ten different players caught passes during the blowout victory.
Abu Sama and Xavier Townsend added rushing touchdowns for the Cyclones, who weren’t particularly effective in the ground game during the early stages of the game, even though it didn’t matter much in the final tally. Sama rushed three times for 23 yards, while Carson Hansen added nine carries for 19, before third-stringer Dylan Lee took over in mop-up time and put up big numbers.
ISU rolled to 524 yards of total offense, getting 306 by way of the air and 218 on the ground.
The home team nearly made more history on its first possession of the third quarter. Aiden Flora fielded a punt at his goal-line and looked to have returned it 99 yards for a touchdown. However, officials ruled he had stepped out of bounds at the South Dakota 33-yard line.
The redshirt freshman was still credited with a 66-yard return which set up another score. On a 3rd-and-8 at the Coyotes’ 12-yard line, Becht found tight end Gabe Burkle for a touchdown. It was the quarterback’s third scoring pass of the day and all to tight ends.
Another lengthy return from Flora, this one for 51 yards, sparked yet another Iowa State score. This time it was Xavier Townsend’s turn to get in on the action, as the UCF transfer rushed 11 yards for the touchdown. Following the Chase Smith PAT, the Cyclones’ lead stood at 41-7 with 8:17 still to go in the third.
True freshman quarterback Alex Manske replaced Becht following the scoring drive and led the offense the rest of the way, scoring on a four-yard touchdown run with 10:57 remaining. The true freshman actually became the Cyclones’ second-leading rusher in limited action, accounting for 26 yards on four carries. He also completed 4-of-5 passes for 28 yards.
Third-string running back Dylan Lee did much of the work down the stretch. After getting the call to replace Sama and Hansen, he rushed 13 times for 81 yards and one touchdown. His eight-yard score with 4:22 remaining pushed Iowa State’s lead to 55-7.
Big start defines another Iowa State home opener against FCS school
Just as they had one season ago in a home opener against an FCS school, the Cyclones went deep early, this time with Becht finding Eskildsen for 66 yards down to the USD nine. Two plays later, Becht found Brahmer in the corner of the end zone for a four-yard touchdown. Iowa State jumped on top 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.
South Dakota was a bit more methodical in its approach, converting on third down twice during a 75-yard scoring drive that spanned 12 plays. The former Cyclone quarterback Bouman completed 4-of-5 passes for 48 yards, including a short completion to Larenzo Fenner for the touchdown. The Coyotes evened the margin at 7-7 with 5:44 left in the first.
An up-tempo first 15 minutes continued when Iowa State’s offense retook the field. Becht found Xavier Townsend for 18 yards on the first play from scrimmage, then two plays later the quarterback hit Tyler Moore for another 18 into South Dakota territory. Sama eventually punched it into the end zone on a 15-yard direct snap, capping off a nine-play scoring drive.
The Coyotes were once again on the move early in the second. Bouman completed a 35-yard pass to Jack Martens on the first play of the quarter. Following a Charles Pierre Jr. rush that went for no gain, Bouman rolled right and delivered a pass that was tipped by Martens and intercepted by ISU’s Jamison Patton. The junior safety returned it 22 yards up to the 24 to give the offense back the ball with a seven-point lead.
The game’s first turnover led to a third Iowa State scoring drive of the first half. Becht hit Brahmer again in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown, this time from three yards out. The Cyclones marched 76 plays across nine plays in just under four minutes.
ISU’s third-year starting quarterback continued a hot start back in the home confines of Jack Trice Stadium, having completed his first 10 pass attempts of the game for 183 yards and the two scoring throws to Brahmer.
Kyle Konrardy extended the Cyclones’ lead later in the second quarter, connecting on a 28-yard field goal to make it a 24-7 margin with 2:35 remaining. ISU marked 52 yards over 11 plays but was held out of the end zone for the first time.
The Cyclones turned the Coyotes over on downs in the closing minute of the half, setting up Konrardy to make a bit of history during his redshirt sophomore season. The Dubuque (Iowa) native booted a school-record and stadium-record 63-yard field goal to send Iowa State into the locker room with a 27-7 lead.
With a pair of victories in consecutive weeks to open the 2025 season, ISU will prepare to host Iowa in the annual Cy-Hawk game next Saturday at 11 a.m.
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