Completed Event: Football versus #17 Kansas State on August 23, 2025 , Win , 24, to, 21
Final
Football
24
#17 Kansas State
21
Iowa State University Athletics
Saturday, September 2
Ames, Iowa
7:00 PM
Iowa State University
1-0
42
vs
24
Northern Iowa
0-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
UNI
7
3
7
7
24
Iowa State
14
7
14
7
42
Cyclones Roll Past Northern Iowa, 42-24, In Season Opener
09.02.2017 | Football
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State picked off three passes in the first half, including two that were returned for touchdowns by Willie Harvey and Kamari Cotton-Moya to propel it to a 42-24 win in the season opener Saturday night at Jack Trice Stadium.
Allen Lazard became the school's all-time leader for career receptions with 178, passing Todd Blythe. He finished with eight receptions in the game for 108 yards. It was his fourth-consecutive 100-yard receiving game and the ninth of his career, both of which are also school records.
UNI had opened up a 7-0 lead on a touchdown pass from Eli Dunne to Isaiah Weston before Harvey pulled in an interception and returned it 12 yards for the Cyclones' first score of the season. Cotton-Moya then got in on the action when he picked off Dunne and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown as the Cyclones went ahead 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Cyclones never looked back, leading 21-10 at the half and extending the lead to 35-10 in the third quarter following Marchie Murdock's first career touchdown on a 9-yard strike from Jacob Park.
Keys of the Game
Iowa State's defense got things started early, allowing the offense to overcome a bit of a slow start. The Cyclones' two interception returns for touchdown marked the first time since the 2010 meeting with Northern Iowa.
After four empty possessions for the offense, things started to click midway through the second quarter. The rushing attack was held in check until the fifth drive when David Montgomery piled up 29 yards on three carries and Park hit on all four passes. From that point, UNI had no answers in stopping the offensive attack that piled up 405 yards of total offense.
Defensively, ISU had six tackles for a loss to go along with the three first-half interceptions. In addition to Cotton-Moya and Harvey, Brian Peavy also picked off a pass.
Players of Note...
Park connected on 27-of-35 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns. His 27 completions were a career high as the junior hit seven different receivers in the game.
On the ground it was Montgomery leading the way picking up 5.9 yards per carry to finish with 83 yards and two scores.
In addition to Lazard, sophomore Hakeem Butler had a career night finishing with seven catches for 75 yards and his third career touchdown.
Peavy finished with a team-high 10 tackles to go along with his interception, while Reggie Wilkerson had seven stops. Harvey finished with four tackles, including a sack, in addition to his interception for a score.
Cyclone Quick Hits
*Tonight's attendance: 61,500
*It was the 40th consecutive game with attendance of more than 50,000 and the third sellout of 61,500.
*Harvey's INT and touchdown were the first of his career.
*Josh Knipfel, Robby Garcia, Reggie Wilkerson, Ray Lima and Marcel Spears made their first career starts. Joel Lanning made his first career defensive start at linebacker.
*Iowa State recorded two interceptions for touchdowns for the first time since since the 2010 season against UNI.
*Colin Downing had three punts of 50 yards or more.
*The 42 points scored were the most for the Cyclones in a season opener since 2008 against South Dakota State, a game ISU won 44-17.
Up Next
The Cyclones host Iowa in an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series showdown at 11 a.m. The game will be on either ESPN or ESPN2.
Team Stats
UNI
ISU
Total Yards
378
405
Pass Yards
259
271
Rushing Yards
119
134
Penalty Yards
71
74
1st Downs
21
24
3rd Downs
3
7
4th Downs
0
2
TOP
29:04
30:56
1st Quarter
UNI 7, ISU 0
UNI - Weston, I. 18 yd pass from Dunne, E. (Drysdale, S. kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:58
UNI 7, ISU 7
ISU - Harvey, Willie 12 yd interception (Owens, Garrett kick)
UNI 7, ISU 14
ISU - Cotton-Moya, K. 22 yd interception (Owens, Garrett kick)
2nd Quarter
UNI 10, ISU 14
UNI - Drysdale, S. 43 yd field goal 9 plays, 64 yards, TOP 4:32
UNI 10, ISU 21
ISU - Montgomery, Da. 8 yd run (Owens, Garrett kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:04
3rd Quarter
UNI 10, ISU 28
ISU - Montgomery, Da. 3 yd run (Owens, Garrett kick), 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 3:32
UNI 10, ISU 35
ISU - Murdock, M. 9 yd pass from Park, Jacob (Owens, Garrett kick) 9 plays, 52 yards, TOP 2:47
UNI 17, ISU 35
UNI - James, J. 18 yd pass from Dunne, E. (Drysdale, S. kick) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:37
4th Quarter
UNI 17, ISU 42
ISU - Butler, Hakeem 9 yd pass from Park, Jacob (Owens, Garrett kick) 18 plays, 77 yards, TOP 8:30
UNI 24, ISU 42
UNI - Graham, A. 16 yd pass from Dunne, E. (Drysdale, S. kick) 3 plays, 54 yards, TOP 1:11
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
27
TD
2
YDS
271
INT
1
CMP
0
TD
0
YDS
0
INT
0
Players Mentioned
WR
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DB
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P
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OL
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LB
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OL
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LB/QB
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WR
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RB
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WR
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DB
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DB
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