Cyclones Open Season with 38-10 Win Over Southeast Missouri

Saturday, September 5

Ames, Iowa

Noon

Iowa State

1-0 , 0-0

Southeast Missouri

1-1 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Southeast Missouri	0	7	0	3	10
Iowa State	14	14	3	7	38

Cyclones Open Season with 38-10 Win Over Southeast Missouri

09.05.2026 | Football

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AMES, Iowa – Newcomers Jaylen Raynor and Isaac Terrell helped Jimmy Rogers start his Iowa State football coaching career as a winner.

Raynor passed for two touchdowns and ran for two others and Terrell led an aggressive defense with three sacks as the new-look Cyclones opened the season with a 38-10 victory over Southeast Missouri on a muggy Saturday afternoon on MidAmerican Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium.

Rogers came in from Washington State and rebuilt the ISU roster with 83 newcomers to complement 43 holdovers, and they clicked well enough in Week One to ease past an FCS opponent that already had a victory under its belt.

Raynor, who claimed the starting quarterback job after starting three years at Arkansas State, completed 8-of-16 passes for 164 yards, including touchdown throws of 24 yards to tight end Vince Benetti and 10 yards to running back Easton Miller.

He also was effective running the ball, scoring twice on 7-yard runs, keeping plays alive by eluding defenders and twice scrambling out of trouble for first downs. He finished with 32 yards rushing in seven carries, was sacked only once and did not throw an interception.

Aiden Flora showed some moxie in scoring the Cyclones' other touchdown. He took the ball into the middle of a scrum where there was no opening, then bounced outside to his left and sped untouched 11 yards to the end zone.

Terrell, a defensive end who followed Rogers from Washington State, recorded all three of his sacks in the first half and fell just half a sack short of the school record. The Cyclones finished with six sacks in all, one short of the school record and the most since logging six against TCU in 2020.

Iowa State is playing a four-man front under new defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbitt, a switch from the three-man front it used under former coordinator Jon Heacock. The Cyclones finished with a total of 12 tackles for losses on Saturday, accounting for 79 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

ISU also came up with three turnovers, recovering two fumbles and a highlight reel leaping interception by Beni Ngoyi, the first pick of his career. The Cyclones' only turnover came on Flora's muffed punt, but the defense bailed him out, knocking the Redhawks back 13 yards in three plays and forcing a 52-yard field goal that sailed wide right.

Raynor, making his 37^th career start, put the Cyclones in position for the first touchdown with a 45-yard strike to Dominic Overby down the right sideline. Three plays later, with a full backfield, all the other backs went right and Raynor had a clear path the end zone running left from 7 yards out for a 7-0 lead less than 5 minutes into the game.

Flora's 36-yard punt return set up Raynor's TD pass to Benetti, the first catch and score of his career, and a 14-0 lead. SEMO drew to 14-7 on Chance Wilson's 7-yard run, but ISU scored twice in the final 5 minutes of the half to open it back up.

Flora's touchdown run made it 21-7 and the Cyclones got the ball back two plays later on Ngoyi's interception at his own 45. It took ISU just three plays to score, the big one Raynor's 34-yard connection with Omari Hayes. Miller slipped out of the backfield on the next play to catch his touchdown pass for a 28-7 halftime lead.

Kyle Konrardy, hero of the last two games against Iowa, kicked a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter and Raynor completed the scoring with a 7-yard run up the middle in the fourth quarter. That score capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive that was Iowa State's longest of the game. It was the Cyclones' only scoring drive that took more than 2 minutes.

Iowa State and Iowa meet again next Saturday at Iowa City. Game time is 6:30 p.m. on NBC. The Cyclones will be back home on Sept. 19 to play Bowling Green with an 11 a.m. kickoff.