Northern Iowa Downs Iowa State, 24-13

AMES, Iowa?Northern Iowa defeated Iowa State, 24-13, in front of a school-record crowd of 56,795 at Jack Trice Stadium Saturday night. UNI's Corey Lewis rushed for 130 yards to help UNI improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Cyclones fall to 0-2.

"I feel bad for our players because I saw the fight all the way down to the end tonight," ISU head coach Gene Chizik said. "Nobody likes to lose. The talk in the locker room was not an easy one. We've got to coach better. The players have to play better. There are too many loose ends out there that are causing us to lose football games."

First half turnovers proved costly for ISU and halted any early momentum generated by the Cyclones. On its first drive, ISU was consistently gaining yards until a Bret Meyer pass was intercepted by UNI's Brannon Carter and returned inside ISU territory. The Cyclone defense held the Panthers to a field goal, as Billy Hallgren drilled a 31-yarder to put UNI up 3-0 with 2:51 left in the first quarter.

The Cyclones quickly answered, however, mounting a 14-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a one-yard sneak by Meyer. Meyer had 36 yards rushing on the drive, as ISU took a 6-3 lead after the PAT hold was botched. The Cyclones then stopped UNI on a 3-and-out in its next series but gave the ball right back to the Panthers when Zac Sandvig fumbled the punt return, handing UNI prime field position at the 15-yard line of Iowa State. UNI scored four plays later on a Johnny Gray touchdown catch from Eric Sanders to push UNI out in front, 10-6 with 14:11 left in the half.

UNI closed out the half with an impressive drive to go out on top, 17-6, at intermission. The 18-play, 69-yard drive was culminated by a Sanders five-yard toss to Victor Williams. UNI increased its lead to 24-6 with an 8-yard run by Sanders with 7:53 remaining in the third quarter.

ISU tallied the only points in the fourth quarter on a J.J. Bass 1-yard touchdown run, his second TD of the season. Bass finished the game with 43 yards on 15 carries.

Redshirt freshman QB Austen Arnaud played in his first collegiate game, taking the majority of the snaps in the third quarter for the Cyclones. Marquis Hamilton led the Cyclones on offense, catching a career-high seven passes for 97 yards. R.J. Sumrall also caught a career-high seven catches for 71 yards to help the Cyclone receiving corps.

ISU is back in action next Saturday, playing host to Iowa in a 12:30 p.m. kickoff.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Austen Arnaud

Austen Arnaud

Marquis Hamilton

Marquis Hamilton

Bret Meyer

Bret Meyer

Zac Sandvig

Zac Sandvig

R.J. Sumrall

R.J. Sumrall

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics