Iowa State Farewell
T’Vondre Sweat gave the Cyclones a nice farewell gift with his impact all over the game Saturday. Photo: Aaron E. Martinez, Austin American-Statesman
Goodbye, Cyclones!
I hope you enjoyed that send off. I sure did.
And with it, the Longhorns move to 10-1 on the season. A feat not accomplished since the days of McCoy and Shipley. 10 wins in the regular season! 10 win Sark! What a year it has been for the Burnt Orange and White. And they’re not done.
In defeating Iowa State 26-16 on Saturday, Texas did what it needed to do - take care of business in November in a hostile road environment. Finishing off a 2-game road stretch toward the end of the year unscathed feels like something that has been a rare occurrence for the Longhorns as of late. And Iowa State played tough, to their credit. Just not quite tough enough.
Byron Murphy was a key piece of a huge defensive effort for the Horns, accounting for 1.5 sacks on the night. Photo: Aaron E. Martinez, USA Today
The game began as a bit of a slugfest - with both teams settling for field goals as it was a 3-3 game late into the second quarter. That’s not to say Texas didn’t have its chances - 2 touchdowns were wiped off the board by penalties, and an additional possession ended on a fumble by Worthy inside the Cyclones’ 10 yard line. For a while, it felt like these kind of mistakes and blown chances would come back to bite the Longhorns.
Still, they persevered to a 6-3 halftime lead after a career long 50-yard field goal by kicker Bert Auburn, who is developing into the kind of clutch kicker fans in Austin will talk about years down the line. The defense was getting after it all night, especially in the first half when ISU’s lone points came on a drive bolstered by a somewhat questionable pass interference call on Ryan Watts. Time and again, Sweat, Murphy, Hill, and others answered the bell. It was the kind of defense we saw over the first half of the season from this group.
Jordan Whittington had a culture game, demonstrating his veteran leadership and stepping up in big moments for a crucial road win. Photo: David Purdy, Getty Images
The second half was vastly different, as Texas finally got going offensively and the teams combined for 4 scores over an 8 minute stretch. Senior Jordan Whittington made a couple of huge plays on the night, one of them going for 6 on a beautifully floated ball and brilliant play design to spring him wide open up the seam.
However Iowa State answered by going right down the field for a score of their own, and the thoughts of “here we go again” started to creep in. That’s when possibly the crucial play of the game happened - T Sweat blocked the extra point attempt, and Austin Jordan scooped it up and took it all the way back for a 2 point conversion. Texas led by 6 rather than just 3. That seemed to put life into the whole team, as the Horns then drove down the field again and capped it off with another fantastic design on a tight end wheel route to Gunnar Helm for the score.
The Cyclones did tack on another score with a sneaky play design of their own, hitting a pop pass on a 4th and 1 for a wide open touchdown. Texas calmly iced the game with an 11-play drive over 6 minutes capped off by another clutch Bert Auburn kick. One final 4th down failure by the Cyclones and that was it. Goodbye to Ames.
Texas now needs one final victory over Texas Tech to clinch a Big 12 title game appearance. Photo: David Purdy, Getty Images
This was a game Texas had most certainly circled - given the situation surrounding the last trip to Ames, and the talking that had been going on prior to this one by Iowa State. The Longhorns left no doubt which program was on a 5 star trajectory - and the players definitely enjoyed this one. I know I did.
Final score: 26-16 Texas
Hook ‘em
