Cyclones Top Illinois State, 32-21

AMES, Iowa (AP) - Bret Meyer passed for 314 yards and a touchdown and Stevie Hicks sprinted 17 yards for the tiebreaking score in the third quarter, lifting Iowa State past Illinois State 32-21 Saturday night in an opener the Cyclones had been expected to dominate.

Iowa State shared the Big 12 North title last year and was coming off a victory over Miami of Ohio in the Independence Bowl. But the Cyclones struggled offensively for a half against their Division I-AA opponent, got stung by two long touchdown passes and gave up another TD on a fumble return.

They couldn't relax until Shawn Moorehead sacked Luke Drone at the Iowa State 42 with 1:47 to play.

Iowa State appeared to be taking control when Meyer flipped a 4-yard touchdown pass to Todd Blythe to make it 29-14 with 9:34 remaining.

On the next play from scrimmage, though, Illinois State's Laurent Robinson beat cornerback DeAndre Jackson and hauled in an 80-yard touchdown pass from Drone. Robinson had beaten Jackson on a similar pattern to catch a 56-yard scoring pass that tied the score at 15 with 5:15 left in the third quarter.

Iowa State answered with a quick six-play, 72-yard drive. Hicks finished it with a 17-yard run on a draw play, juking two defenders before cutting to his right and outrunning the pursuit to the end zone to put the Cyclones ahead to stay - finally.

Meyer finished 30 of 41 with no interceptions. The completions and attempts were career highs for the sophomore, who became the Cyclones' permanent starter in mid-October last season and led them to five victories in the last seven games.

This one wasn't especially impressive, but it was still important with No. 11 Iowa coming to town next Saturday. The Hawkeyes opened the season with a 56-0 rout of Ball State.

Illinois State didn't have a first down in the opening quarter, yet led 8-2, getting a touchdown on Jesse Caesar's 69-yard fumble return and Pierre Rembert's 2-point conversion run. Caesar drew a penalty for excessive celebration for somersaulting into the end zone. It was assessed on the ensuing kickoff and with the Redbirds also penalized 5 yards for delay of game, they ended up kicking from their own 15.

Iowa State had taken a 2-0 lead on a bizarre safety. Punter Ryan Hoffman kicked the ball into the back of teammate Brent Hawkins and it arced back through the uprights and out of the end zone.

Defensive end Jason Berryman, who regained the starting job he held in 2003 after spending 258 days in jail, set up Iowa State's only first-half touchdown by picking off Drone's pass and getting the ball to the Illinois State 1. It took Cyclones three plays before Ryan Kock finally bulled through the line for the first of his two 1-yard TD runs.

Robinson finished with six catches for 177 yards, while Drone was 10-for-25 for 222 yards and two interceptions.

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Players Mentioned

Jason Berryman

Jason Berryman

Todd Blythe

Todd Blythe

DeAndre Jackson

DeAndre Jackson

Ryan Kock

Ryan Kock

Bret Meyer

Bret Meyer

Shawn Moorehead

Shawn Moorehead

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