Iowa State Football: 3 takeaways from crucial win over TCU in Week 4

While it took Iowa State football some time to gain momentum, Breece Hall’s three touchdowns lifted the Cyclones to a 37-34 win over TCU.

Iowa State was stunned at home two weeks ago against Louisiana that knocked them out of the top 25. They were in need of a good game against TCU to start Big 12 play and they got exactly that and more.

TCU has had four games either postponed or canceled due to COVID-19. They had not had a chance to play against other opponents since the season started in August. The Horned Frogs were more than prepared to play the Cyclones at home.

It took both teams over 20 minutes to start the game to score before Iowa State running back Breece Hall explodes for a 75-yard touchdown run to put the Cyclones up 7-0. Three minutes late, TCU responded with a Matthew Downing 37-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston.

A key play came from Iowa State’s defensive lineman JaQuan Bailey after a sack strip recovery deep in TCU territory that led to a Brock Purdy touchdown pass. Iowa State led 16-7 at halftime.

Purdy would make a critical mistake early in the third quarter by throwing the ball in the backfield trying to avoid a sack. The ball was thrown to TCU’s La’Kendrick Van Zandt who took the ball and scored to put TCU within two points.

It took about a minute for Iowa State to respond back with a 49-yard touchdown run by Kene Nwangwu to put the Cyclones up 23-14. Max Duggan took over at quarterback for TCU and threw a touchdown to Taye Barber late in the third quarter to make it a 23-21 game going into the fourth quarterback.

Iowa State was able to control the fourth quarter with a strong running plays to win the time of possession. Hall scored a second rushing touchdown from one yard out to increase the lead to 30-21.

TCU responded with a 48-yard touchdown from Duggan to Artayvious Lynn as TCU pulled once again within two points. Iowa State’s Mike Rose interception and Hall’s third rushing touchdown sealed the deal for the Cyclones.

Iowa State came away with a 37-34 win over TCU to win their first Big 12 game of the season. TCU dropped to 0-1 after their first game of the season.

What did we learn from Iowa State’s win?