“It’ll be good to get back and see we didn’t always finish, but we did when we needed it the most and y can say that about our entire team today.” “That’s a great defense and I felt like offensively we were in pretty good rhythm through part of the football game,” the 42-year old coach said. And Campbell couldn’t be more proud of the unit. Iowa State even converted half of its’ first downs. Most importantly, Iowa State beat Iowa at its’ own game in terms of dominating time of possession. The Cyclones’ offense generated 10 more first downs, 163 additional yards, and ran 27 more than the Hawkeyes. Not to mention he generated 51 yards after the catch. The two-time, All-Big 12 performer hauled in a jaw-dropping, 11 passes, for 98 yards and a touchdown. Senior wideout Xavier Hutchinson had another stellar outing. It was Brock’s first back-to-back games of hitting the century mark in rushing. Although he coughed up a fumble at the goaline, Brock’s grew stronger after every carry and wore down Iowa’s defense in the second half. Junior running back Jirehl Brock solidified he’s a workhorse, with 27 carries for 100 yards. “I put any of that on me as much as anybody, we got to continue to do a great job as coaches, and correct what the challenges are.” “You got a lot of young guys playing for the first time, you have to weather the storms early on,” he said. Campbell watched as some of his young players emerged from the shadows and made lasting impressions. And that’s impressive, considering the fact that Iowa has a pair of elite pass rushers. Iowa State’s offensive line only allowed one sack the entire afternoon. However, the seventh-year coach understands that Dekkers wouldn’t have fared well without great protection up front. Dekkers looked like a seasoned-veteran with the way he orchestrated Iowa State’s 99-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. And Campbell watched his quarterback grow right before his eyes. Those were clear signs that the signal-caller is making others around him better. There were times that the offense fed off Dekkers’ energy. However, Dekkers accomplished what Brock Purdy couldn’t during his time as a Cyclone. He completed 25 of his 38 passes for 184 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Sophomore quarterback displayed a short term memory and persevered through the mistakes. After all, Iowa State’s offense had four trips in the red zone, but turned the ball over twice at the goaline. Campbell knows his team left a lot of plays on the field. There’s no denying it was a defensive slugfest and both teams turned the ball over at critical times. “You know what, it’s not pretty, and who are you when your back is against the wall, I think we found out a little bit more about who we are.” “We’ll find out when the bullets fly, you’re in front of the lights and the lights come on,” Campbell said. Campbell found out what his players were made of and he was encouraged by their will to win. The Cyclones showed grit, determination and answered the bell every time they faced adversity. The hard-fought victory was the Cyclones’ first at Kinnick Stadium since 2014 and Matt Campbell finally downed Kirk Ferentz. Most notably, Iowa State was able to snap a six-game losing streak by beating Iowa 10-7. It had rain, costly turnovers, a rowdy sold out crowd, great defense and went down to the wire. There are plenty of reasons why Saturday’s clash between the in-state rivals was instant an classic in the Cy-Hawk series.
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