ISU Downs MU In Mac Finale, 21-16

AMES, Iowa--Senior Ryan Kock rushed for a career-high 179 yards and two touchdowns and Shawn Moorehead sacked Missouri's Chase Daniel on the final play of the game, as Iowa State outlasted Missouri 21-16 in Dan McCarney's final game as the Cyclone coach. McCarney, who announced he was stepping down at the end of the season less than two weeks ago, ends his reign as the winningest and longest-tenured coach in school history. Iowa State ends its season at 4-8 overall and 1-7 in Big 12 play, while the Tigers fall to 7-4 overall and 3-4 in Big 12 action.

“I'm really proud of my football team and for the 23 seniors," McCarney said after the win. "It was a great scene in the locker room, and as I ride off into the sunset, I have endless respect and love for these guys at Iowa State. Obviously, we fell short of what we wanted to achieve this year, but we wanted to finish with our heads high.”

“I want to thank the Iowa State fans for the tremendous support and we've built a tremendous fan base. The next coach and staff is in for a thrill to play for this city and its fans. I know there's some great candidates that President (Gregory) Geoffroy and Jamie
(Pollard) are looking at and they'll get a great guy to carry on the tradition and success here.”

The end was a fitting one for the Iowa State-Missouri series in recent years. It marked the third consecutive season where the ISU-MU matchup was decided on the final play of the game. It appeared MU was going to spoil McCarney's last game, possessing the ball on fourth and goal at the ISU 1-yard line trailing 21-16 with :26 seconds remaining in the game. Daniel ran off tackle for the score, but the play was nullified by a Tiger holding call, setting up a fourth and goal at the 11-yard line with :21 seconds left on the clock. Daniel was immediately flushed out of the pocket and was finally corralled by Moorehead, who recorded his 8 1/2 sack this season and the 18 1/2 sack of his career, both ISU season and career highs.

Missouri jumped out of the gates quickly, scoring seven points on an 8-play, 80-yard drive after the opening kickoff. Daniel completed all four of his passes in the drive, capped off by an 8-yard toss to Martin Rucker for the first touchdown of the game. Daniel completed his first 12 passes of the game.

MU increased its lead to 10-0 after a 38-yard field goal by Jeff Wolfert, finishing off a 9-play, 30-yard drive. The Cyclones immediately came alive on the next series, producing arguably the best drive of the season, marching 90 yards on 15 plays while chewing up 7:05 minutes off the clock. Kock, who was named the team's MVP the night before at the football banquet, was virtually unstoppable in the drive. Kock rushed for 60 yards on nine carries in the drive, setting up a Bret Meyer nine-yard touchdown pass to Todd Blythe to cut the lead to 10-7. It was Meyer's 41^st touchdown pass of his career, breaking the all-time school mark for touchdown strikes formerly held by Todd Bandhauer (40 TD, 1995-98).

ISU took its first lead of the game at 14-10, going on an 80-yard drive after the second half kickoff. The drive appeared to be ended with an apparent ISU field goal attempt when the Cyclones had 4^th-and-7 at the MU 11-yard line. But a Tiger offsides call on the field goal try inched the Cyclones five yards closer. ISU opted to go for it on fourth down and was successful when Jason Scales rambled for four yards. Kock scored two plays later on a 1-yard dive.

After ISU's defense held strong on the next Tiger series, the Cyclones increased their lead to 21-10 on another long drive, this one going for 76 yards on 11 plays. Kock was once again instrumental, recording his second touchdown of the day on a 9-yard run. It was Kock's 20^th career touchdown run, ranking him ninth all-time in school history.

“He (Kock) did a marvelous job," McCarney said. "He ran away in voting for the MVP, as voted by his teammates yesterday. Maybe that sparked him a little more to get that award, but he's left a great legacy here at Iowa State.”

The Tigers closed the gap to 21-16 after Tony Temple scored on a 7-yard run. MU's two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful when Ahtyba Rubin batted down a Daniel pass. The Cyclones drove the length of the field on their next series looking to put the game away. However, a Bret Culbertson 28-yard field goal attempt was wide right, giving the Tigers new life and the ball with less than four minutes remaining and setting up ISU's final defensive stand.

McCarney, who finishes his career with a 56-85 overall mark, was 43-43 at ISU since 2000. The win gave ISU the Telephone Trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the ISU-MU game, for the first time since 2002.

Players Mentioned

Todd Blythe

Todd Blythe

Bret Culbertson

Bret Culbertson

Ryan Kock

Ryan Kock

Bret Meyer

Bret Meyer

Shawn Moorehead

Shawn Moorehead

Ahtyba Rubin

Jason Scales

Jason Scales

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