What can Kyle Konrardy and No. 20 Iowa State do for an encore?
Konrardy’s 54-yard field goal with six seconds left lifted the Cyclones to a 20-19 win at instate rival Iowa on Sept. 7. For his troubles, the redshirt freshman earned 54 boxes of Pop-Tarts, the breakfast pastry that has its name attached to a bowl game.
After a bye week to bask in the glow of the big win and work on some of those Pop-Tarts, Iowa State returns to action Saturday afternoon with a game against Arkansas State in Ames, Iowa.
Making Konrardy’s game-winner even more remarkable was he hadn’t attempted a field goal in a college game before that game. He missed from 41 yards out just before halftime and then connected on a 46-yarder early in the fourth quarter, pulling his team within 19-17.
His approach for the game-winner?
“Not think,” he said. “That’s it. Just go out there, not think and do what you do.”
The Cyclones (2-0) rode a stingy defense to a fast start. They’ve allowed just one touchdown and 22 points so far, although North Dakota and Iowa haven’t exactly posed two-dimensional threats to truly test a defense.
Still, it was the defense that kept Iowa State in contention when its offense bumbled its way through the first half. The Cyclones forced Iowa to settle for short field goals after long drives.
It was the program’s biggest comeback since 2020, when it trailed Baylor by 14 points.
“It’s a law of progression, nothing ever just goes straight to success,” Cyclones coach Matt Campbell said. “The great teams, man, the special ones, they can make those down moments blips and get right back on the road to success.”
While Iowa State tries to maintain its early momentum, Arkansas State (2-1) shoots for an upset. The Red Wolves never really threatened Michigan last week in a 28-18 loss in Ann Arbor but at least made the final score respectable with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Arkansas State created its chances by intercepting three passes but ultimately generated just three points, which was the key factor in its first loss. Backup quarterback Timmy McClain fired a pair of touchdown passes in the last six minutes.
The Red Wolves opened their season with narrow home wins against Central Arkansas, one of the top FCS programs in the country, and Tulsa. They sport a balanced attack that’s led by Jaylen Raynor, who’s thrown for 712 yards and three touchdowns, and Corey Rucker, who’s caught 17 passes for 265 yards and a pair of scores.
Zak Wallace, the team’s leading rusher with 124 yards, has scored 40 touchdowns in a career that started at FCS UT Martin.
“We can say that we’re kind of slept on,” he said. “You don’t hear about (us) a lot but we’re here.”
This will be the first matchup of Arkansas State and Iowa State.
