Cyclones Bowl Eligible With Win Over CU, 17-10

AMES, Iowa?The Iowa State defense forced three second-half turnovers and held its third league opponent to 10 points or less in a 17-10 victory over Colorado Saturday afternoon in Jack Trice Stadium. The win improves ISU's record to 6-5 overall and 3-4 in Big 12 play, making the Cyclones bowl eligible for the first time since 2005.

ISU head coach Paul Rhoads lauded the effort of his defense and the performance of his 23 seniors playing in their last game in Jack Trice Stadium.

"Our defense was outstanding," Rhoads said. "We got a huge stop at the 1-yard line, stopped them again and forced a field goal. Then we got the fumble inside the 10-yard line, and that was a huge difference in the football game. The last home game is always a special game for seniors when they get the opportunity to get introduced in front of a great crowd at Jack Trice Stadium."

Rhoads was just as excited and happy about the possibility of playing in a bowl game.

"College football is a lot about bowl games," Rhoads added. "You start the season and you work for it. And at this point we are bowl eligible and we are thrilled with that."

Cyclone running back Alexander Robinson did his part to control the game for the offense, rushing for 138 yards, his fifth 100-yard effort of the season. That total gives him 1,002 yards for the year, joining a group of 12 Cyclones who have achieved the elusive 1,000-yard milestone.

The Cyclones got on board first with a 9-play, 83-yard drive in the first quarter. The drive was capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Austen Arnaud to Marquis Hamilton to make it 7-0 ISU. Robinson gained 49 yards on the ground in the Cyclone scoring march.

CU had a golden opportunity to tie the score late in the first period when Jimmy Smith intercepted an Arnaud pass and returned it to the ISU 5-yard line. The Cyclone defense rose to the occasion, stuffing Buffalo running back Demetrius Sumler for no gain on fourth-and-goal at the one to halt the drive.

ISU was producing a drive in the second quarter, but Darius Darks fumbled the ball after a catch. CU converted with a 22-yard field goal by Aric Goodman with 5:22 left before halftime to close the gap to 7-3.

Grant Mahoney nailed a 25-yard field goal in the final second of the first half to improve the Cyclone lead to 10-3 at the break.

Robinson ended the half with 66 rushing yards to pace the Cyclones.

The stout ISU defense forced turnovers on the Buffs' first two possessions of the second half. Senior nose guard Nate Frere recorded his first career interception on CU's first series. David Sims then knocked the ball loose from CU's Rodney Stewart where it was recovered by Stephen Ruempolhamer on the next series. The ISU offense converted on the second Buff turnover when Arnaud hit Robinson on a 20-yard touchdown strike to make it 17-3 Cyclones with 9:09 left in third quarter.

The Buffs were mounting another drive in the fourth quarter when ISU came up with another turnover. Sims forced his second fumble by Stewart at the ISU 8-yard line which was recovered by James Smith to thwart another potential Buff score.

CU made it interesting late by scoring its first touchdown with 3:17 left in the game on a 36-yard pass from Tyler Hansen to Markques Simas to cut the lead to 17-10. After CU used both of its timeouts, Robinson rushed for 16 yards on third down to seal the victory.

Arnaud ended the game with 116 yards passing and two touchdowns. Sims racked up a team-high seven tackles to go along with his two forced fumbles.

Stewart rushed for 85 yards and Hansen threw for 258 yards to pace the CU offense. The Buffs outgained ISU in total offense, 390-310.

ISU closes out its regular season at Missouri next weekend. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Austen Arnaud

Austen Arnaud

Austen Arnaud

Austen Arnaud

Darius Darks

Darius Darks

Nate Frere

Nate Frere

Marquis Hamilton

Marquis Hamilton

Marquis Hamilton

Grant Mahoney

Grant Mahoney

Grant Mahoney

Alexander Robinson

Alexander Robinson

Alexander Robinson

Alexander Robinson

Stephen Ruempolhamer

Stephen Ruempolhamer

David Sims

David Sims

James Smith

James Smith

James Smith

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