After a promising start, West Virginia fell to No. 11 Iowa State 28-16 on Saturday.
In the first quarter, the Mountaineers had a chance to go up by two scores but failed. From that point on, they were outscored by the Cyclones 28-9.
WVU quarterback Garrett Greene struggled passing, completing 56% of his passes and throwing two interceptions. However, he was the Mountaineers’ leading rusher in the running attack, with 87 yards.
Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht was a big part of the ISU victory, but running back Carson Hansen was the most crucial. He finished with 96 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries.
The Mountaineers won the coin toss to start the game and elected to receive. They faced an early third down but converted with a Hudson Clement catch. WVU kept methodically moving the chain and gradually made it into the red zone. Jahiem White rushed for an eight-yard touchdown to first get West Virginia on the board.
Iowa State started their first offensive drive with a 37-yard completion. They moved the chains several times but stalled inside the Mountaineers’ 25-yard line. Becht was sacked on third down by Asani Redwood, and the Cyclones had no choice but to attempt a field goal. The 47-yard attempt was no good.
After the missed field goal, the Mountaineers looked to take advantage and go up by two scores against Iowa State. The drive took up the final few minutes of the first quarter and led into the second. On third down in the red zone, a Rodney Gallagher catch was overruled after a replay review. WVU sent out their field goal unit, but to no avail, as Michael Hayes missed a 36-yarder.
The Cyclones would capitalize on their next drive. Shortly into the drive, Becht found a wide-open Jaylin Noel in stride down the middle of the field for a 60-yard touchdown. The game was tied with just over 13 minutes to go in the first half.
Looking to respond with minimal time left in the first half, West Virginia did what they could. It was a 10-play drive for 50 yards in 2:07. They capped it off with a 43-yard Hayes FG. Iowa State was unable to score with about 30 seconds left to go, but they headed into the locker room with a 14-10 lead.
Iowa State received the ball to open up the second half. They were able to get one first down but stopped on the next set of downs as WVU got the ball early into the third. West Virginia was unable to capitalize as they turned around and punted it right back after a five-play 20-yard drive.
After getting the ball back via another punt, West Virginia was stringing together a promising drive. After yet another high snap Greene attempted to make the most of it and turned it into a positive, rushing for 28 yards. However, just a play or two later, he throws an interception virtually right to the defense.
The Cyclones were able to capitalize off of the turnover as Carson Hansen rushed in for his second touchdown. Iowa State went up by 11 towards the beginning of the fourth quarter.
On WVU’s next drive, Greene was picked off again, hurting his team’s chances of getting back into the game. Shaving off significant time on the drive as well, Iowa State continued to tack on. Hansen scored his third touchdown of the night with 4:35 left on the clock, putting the Cyclones up 28-10 in the late stages.
With 1:10 left, White took a 10-yard catch for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, as WVU remained down 28-16.
Iowa State improves to 6-0 (3-0 in Big 12) and will host UCF next week. The Mountaineers suffer their first conference loss of the season and fall to .500 at 3-3 (2-1 in Big 12).
WVU will host Kansas State next week at 7:30 p.m. EST, in their second-consecutive home night game.
