Iowa State Football: 3 takeaways from another impressive Cyclones win

Iowa State football kept its momentum rolling as the Cyclones dominated West Virginia. Here are three takeaways.

Shortly before kickoff Saturday, the Iowa State football team learned it would be playing in the Big 12 championship game regardless of the results against West Virginia.

But the Cyclones, led by a stellar performance from quarterback Brock Purdy, decided to put a whooping on the Mountaineers anyway, winning 42-6 in an impressive showing for Iowa State, which is now 8-2 overall and 8-1 in the Big 12 this season.

Purdy has been a solid and steady leader for Iowa State football all season at quarterback and he was outstanding Saturday, completing 20-of-23 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran seven times for 38 yards and a score as the Big 12’s only playoff hopeful stayed alive.

The loss by Oklahoma State earlier in the day at TCU clinched the berth in the title game for Iowa State, which will be the first such trip in school history. But then the Cyclones did what championship teams do — they took care of business and here are the takeaways.

Iowa State football passing the eye test

One thing that has seemingly hurt Iowa State in the College Football Playoff rankings, outside of a bad season-opening loss has been the eye test. Not only do you have to win in this modern era of college football but you have to do it impressively.

And as far as the Cyclones are concerned, they couldn’t have done much more Saturday. They dominated a 5-3 West Virginia team and did it from the opening kickoff. Iowa State grabbed a 14-point lead early.

Iowa State totaled 459 total yards with 247 on the ground, while holding West Virginia to just 263 total yards and just 54 on the ground. That is championship football right there and if Iowa State gets a little — actually a lot of help, it could work its way into the playoff mix.