ISU Stays Undefeated; Downs Kent State, 48-28

AMES, Iowa? The Iowa State defense and special teams came up with the big plays for the second consecutive game, recovering four fumbles and blocking two punts en route to a 48-28 victory over Kent State Saturday evening in Jack Trice Stadium. ISU, now 2-0 on the season, recorded 40 points for the second consecutive game, marking the first time a Cyclone team has scored 40 or more points in their first two games since 1976.

The Cyclones have already forced 10 turnovers in their first two games. ISU only had 18 turnovers forced in 12 games last season.

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"We were very sloppy on defense tonight," ISU head coach Gene Chizik said. "The silver lining is that we are creating turnovers. We are very opportunistic when it comes to that. What I am proud of is that the kids keep playing. They know bad things are going to happen. They keep coming back, stripping the ball, and creating turnovers. When you add that up over two weeks, you are getting the ball to your offense 10 times."

Kent State converted an early Cyclone turnover to take a 7-0 first quarter lead. ISU then stormed back to score 21 unanswered points going ahead 21-7 at the end of the first quarter. Jason Scales blocked Matt Rinehart's punt at the 33-yard line where it eventually bounced out of bounds at the KSU 1-yard line. Scales then cleaned up his heroic play with a 1-yard touchdown dive to put the Cyclones on the board.

ISU then forged its first lead at 14-7 with 1:59 left in the first quarter on a 5-play, 61-yard drive. A Phillip Bates 27-yard run was the key play in the series which was capped off by a Bates-to-Sumrall 24-yard touchdown strike. It was Sumrall's first touchdown catch of his career. The Cyclones then took advantage of another Golden Flash mistake, as Josh Raven recovered a Leneric Muldrow fumble at the KSU 20-yard line. J.J. Bass then ran it in from three yards out to push ISU out in front 21-7.

Both teams traded touchdowns in the first part of the second quarter. KSU's Julian Edelman hit Eugene Jarvis on a 29-yard touchdown strike to cut the deficit to seven points. However, ISU promptly answered with another Sumrall touchdown catch, this time from the arm of Austen Arnaud, who fired a perfect 49-yard strike to make it a 28-14 ISU advantage. KSU closed the gap to 28-21 right before intermission on an Edelman to Jonathon Simpson 11-yard touchdown pass.

The Cyclones pushed their lead to 38-21at the end of the third quarter thanks to more big plays from their special teams and defense. Houston Jones blocked ISU's second punt of the game followed by a fumble recovery by Fred Garrin. Arnaud later scored from five yards out to give the Cyclones a 17-point advantage.

The Golden Flashes got as close as 10 points (38-28) after a Shawn Bayes 26-yard catch from Edelmen. But that was the end of the scoring for KSU. ISU's Grant Mahoney drilled his second field goal, a career-long 48-yarder with 9:58 left in the game. Scales then notched his second touchdown of the night with a 4-yard run in the final minute of the game. Bates scrambled on a 56-yard run to set up Scales' touchdown dash.

Sumrall finished the game with 104 receiving yards on four catches and Bates led the Cyclone rushing attack, gaining 83 yards on eight carries. Arnaud completed 12-of-15 passes for 166 yards. Jarvis led KSU's offense, rushing for 139 yards on 24 carries.

"It is great to see R.J. make some nice plays tonight," Chizik said. "He caught a couple of really nice catches tonight. I am just proud of the way he is going. He is blocking better on the perimeter which is something we thought he needed to focus on. You have to give the quarterbacks credit for getting him the ball. It was good to see him deliver tonight."

ISU travels to Iowa next week to face the Hawkeyes in the annual Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series matchup. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m.

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Players Mentioned

Austen Arnaud

Austen Arnaud

Phillip Bates

Fred Garrin

Fred Garrin

Leonard Johnson

Houston Jones

Houston Jones

Grant Mahoney

Josh Raven

Josh Raven

Jason Scales

Jason Scales

Jesse Smith

Jesse Smith

Kurtis Taylor

Kurtis Taylor

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