AMES – Every aspect of the Cyclone defense was dominant from the very first possession of the game. Iowa State never allowed the Arkansas State offense to get anything going, forcing three turnovers and blocking a punt en route to a 52-7 victory.
The first two defensive drives set the tone for the Cyclones. The defense forced the Red Wolves into two three-and-outs to start the game and held Arkansas State to just five and eight yards on its first two drives.
The punt that followed the Red Wolves’ second offensive drive was tipped by sixth-year senior defensive back Darien Porter. That blocked punt made it the fourth consecutive season that Porter has recorded one, joining Nick Leaders as one of only two players in program history to block four punts in their career.
“Darien [Porter] has really become good at a lot of things, which is really fun,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said. “He’s an elite special teams player and has become an elite football player for us.”
The first two drives also gave a preview for the type of game Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor would go on to have. Raynor went 0-for-4 over the first two drives and you can argue his game only got worse from there.
Raynor would go on to go five-for-16 for 68 yards and two interceptions and ran 21 yards before getting benched before the end of the first half in favor of Central Florida transfer Timmy McClain.
“To be able to make some plays on the ball and turn the football over is really big,” Campbell said. “That’s something we continue to stress.”
The first Cyclone interception came from sophomore Jeremiah Cooper after what had been Arkansas State’s best drive of the game up to that point. The Red Wolves were on an 11-play, 38-yard drive when Cooper picked off Raynor on first-and-10 from the Cyclones 38-yard line for the sixth interception of his career.
The second Iowa State interception belonged to junior Malik Verdon, the third of his career. Verdon picked off Raynor near midfield and returned it all the way to Arkansas State’s 16-yard line. The interception set up a one-play, 16-yard touchdown drive to make the game 31-0 just minutes before halftime.
“I was roaming in the middle of the field and saw the quarterback’s intentions,” Verdon said. “I was just playing to it and the ball ended up coming my way.”
Following the second interception, McClain was put into the game for the Red Wolves and saw a little more success. Granted, it was against a lot of the Cyclones’ backups. McClain went 4-7 for 50 yards and a touchdown but lost a fumble after a sack by Iowa State linebacker Jack Sadowsky V.
“We saw [McClain] come in and we had to prepare for him as well because he’s a good player,” Verdon said.
It wasn’t just the defensive backs that came to play though. All three levels of the Cyclone defense played at an elite level in this game, adding on four sacks and six tackles-for-loss on top of the three turnovers forced.
The Cyclones’ linebacking core, still decimated by injuries, stepped up in a big way. Iowa State held Arkansas State to just 64 rushing yards on 35 attempts, by far its best performance of the year.
“We’ve struggled with [the run game] the last couple weeks, it’s just taking what we do in practice, taking practice extremely seriously as if it was a game every day,” senior Joey Petersen said. “[The linebackers] have been forced to grow really quick and I think they’ve done a great job with that.”
The Red Wolves were able to get points on the board in the final minutes of the game after McClain found Hunter Summers for a 27-yard touchdown, putting an end to the Cyclones’ hopes of securing its first shutout since 2020.
Despite missing out on the shutout, Iowa State had its most dominant defensive showing of the season in its final non-conference game, allowing just seven points and 182 yards of total offense. Now, the Cyclones focus turns to Big 12 play, with a championship being the goal.
“It’s going to take everything we got,” Campbell said.
