Inconsistencies prove costly in Iowa State football's loss to Utah
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AMES – After watching Iowa State football get pushed around by No. 15 Utah in the first half, the crowd at Jack Trice Stadium had a lively pulse as the Cyclones gained a second wind and shrunk a three-touchdown deficit into a seven-point game with an opportunity to muster an equalizing drive.
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The comeback attempt ultimately fell short. The Utes got an insurance touchdown and held on for a 31-17 victory, while Iowa State fell to 2-2 and lost its Big 12 Conference opener on Sept. 26.
Do the Cyclones have mettle and guts? No doubt. They demonstrated that in a close road loss in the Cy-Hawk game. They did it again when the Cyclones dug in their heels and fought back against the Utes in the second half.
But Iowa State is not interested in could-haves, should-haves and moral victories.
"We mentioned after the game, try not to play the 'if' game, 'if this happened, we would have did this, if that,'" Iowa State quarterback Jaylen Raynor said. "Yeah, try to stay away from that because that's kind of where your team starts to separate. Just really owning up to our own mistakes and diving into the film, being our biggest critics of ourselves and knowing that it's not one player, it's 11 people at a time, and everybody doing their job is going to get us the kind of result that we want."
There were breakdowns on both sides of the ball at pivotal moments. In the first conference game of the year, it was a reminder that Iowa State can't afford inconsistencies in Big 12 play, regardless of which players are on the field or which coaching staff is at the helm.
For a team eager to prove naysayers wrong, it knows that close results don't count for anything differently in the final win-loss record.
There were promising moments that the Cyclones can carry forward, but in the first game of a conference gauntlet that has West Virginia followed by road trips to BYU and Arizona to start, the Cyclones have to be problem-solvers just as much as they are learners and football players.
"We came out and shot ourselves in the foot," Cyclones coach Jimmy Rogers said. "You could feel the energy at half and the message was one play at a time after this, although that's always the message. ... They kind of locked into that and you could feel the momentum. When we were having some success, the confidence started to grow and our offense started to have success.
"I thought at times our offense had some plays, and I felt like they battled, but when it was crunch time, the defense, we didn't stand up. We didn't get off the field."
The Cyclones fell in a 24-3 hole heading into halftime. There were uncharacteristic missed tackles and explosive plays for a high-powered Utah offense that got almost whatever it wanted.
Iowa State's offense failed to gain any traction in the first half. It went 0-for-7 on third-down conversions and didn't convert on third or fourth down until late in the second quarter.
Emerging out of the halftime break, the Cyclones pieced together a meticulous drive that resulted in a touchdown. Iowa State got key conversions for first downs, ate up nearly seven minutes of clock and the eight-yard Raynor carry into the end zone sparked the Cyclone sideline and Jack Trice Stadium crowd.
"It was everything you want in a long drive," Raynor said. "Obviously, we were wearing down the defense on that one, but being able to finish it off with points was a very good feeling. Obviously, it goes back to winning our first down and we did a great job of converting some third downs."
After a defensive stop and a touchdown pass by Raynor to Dominic Overby, moments after a clutch fourth-down conversion effort by the redshirt sophomore, the Cyclones trimmed it down to a one-touchdown deficit with 10:48 left in the game.
Iowa State's defense committed a roughing-the-passer penalty on third down of the ensuing Utah possession. It would have been a forced three-and-out, but instead the mistake dampened the Cyclones' resurgence for a brief moment. The Cyclones still forced a punt on that same drive.
The offense failed to move and was forced to punt. On a make-or-break drive, Utah relied on running back Wayshawn Parker, who gashed the Cyclones for 174 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He helped the Utes pick up a few first downs en route to their final touchdown drive, which he finished off with a 13-yard scoring reception.
"I thought they were self-imposed problems," linebacker Sullivan Schlimgen said of Iowa State's breakdowns when it came to tackling and taking down Parker or other members of the Utes' offense. "Not running our feet, not wrapping up and taking bad angles. At the end of the day, that's not going to be very successful.
"I wouldn't say they were (more difficult than previous opponents). Obviously, they have a lot of talent, but at the end of the day, everybody has a lot of talent, so I wouldn't say they were any more, any less. I just thought today was kind of self-imposed."
All in all, the Cyclones were outgained, 411-316. Utah had a balanced effort, with more than 200 yards passing and rushing as a team.
"There's no hiding what we put out on the field today," Rogers said.
Offensively, Raynor completed 21-of-40 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown. He had two interceptions, although one was on a desperate Hail Mary heave before halftime. The Cyclones had 111 rushing yards (3.4 yards per carry).
There were moments where each side of the ball shined, but also lessons for how inconsistencies in any area of the game can prove to be costly.
"We have to be better collectively," Rogers said. "... Had opportunities to flip them and stop them, so they heard the truth from me in the locker room, but I'm also not going to – it’s on coaching, too.
"I gotta look myself in the mirror and so does the whole staff, and then the players got to own up to their mistakes. Do they know what they were doing? Were they confused? Did we give them too much? All of those things will be addressed when we watch film."
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Inconsistencies prove costly in Iowa State football's loss to Utah