Saturday, September 10, 2016 07:30 PM (ET)

Beathard, Iowa too strong for Iowa State

The Sports Xchange
Sep 10, 2016

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- In one of the most one-sided games in the history of the Cy-Hawk rivalry, the 16th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes dismantled their intrastate foe Iowa State, 42-3, on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

The 39-point win is the largest margin of victory over Iowa State by Iowa (2-0) under head coach Kirk Ferentz and tied for the third-largest win margin all-time in the rivalry.

Iowa's success was in large part due to the performance of quarterback C.J. Beathard. The fifth-year senior completed 19 of 28 passes for 235 yards and tossed three touchdown passes to three different receivers, all during the first half.

Iowa went up 7-0 in the first quarter when Beathard connected with senior tight end George Kittle for a 9-yard touchdown. The lead extended to 14-0 later in the quarter when Beathard found junior Akrum Wadley on a wheel route for a 26-yard scoring pass.

Iowa State (0-2) would respond late in the first quarter with a drive that got down to the Hawkeye 7-yard line. But a pair of sacks by Iowa forced the Cyclones to settle for a 31-yard field goal by senior kicker Cole Netten, trimming their deficit down to 11 points.

Junior receiver Allen Lazard had three catches for 48 yards receiving on the Cyclones' scoring drive and finished with 111 yards receiving on the night, marking the second consecutive game Lazard reached the 100-yard plateau.

The Hawkeyes would strike back with another touchdown early in the second quarter when Beathard completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Matt VandeBerg, putting the score at 21-3. VandeBerg finished the game with seven catches and 129 yards receiving. Iowa would get one more score to close out the half when Beathard ran in from one yard out on a sneak.

That touchdown run by Beathard came after Iowa State was flagged for a face-mask penalty when senior defensive end Jhaustin Thomas sacked Beathard on third down. The Cyclones were undisciplined throughout the evening, getting flagged 10 times including four times during the second quarter alone.

The second half began with five punts between the two teams before Iowa increased its lead to 35-3 when Wadley ran in from three yards out. That advantage would balloon to 42-3 when senior running back LeShun Daniels, Jr., ran for his second 43-yard touchdown run in as many weeks.

Daniels' score was set up by an interception by junior linebacker Ben Niemann. Iowa State junior quarterback Joel Lanning had a rough night for the Cyclones, completing just 8 of 20 pass attempts for 86 yards and he was pulled for sophomore Jacob Park following the turnover.

Iowa plays its third straight home game next week against five-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State, while Iowa State opens Big 12 play next week with a trip to No. 13 TCU.

NOTES: Iowa sophomore offensive lineman Lucas LeGrand started at center in place of sophomore James Daniels, who was out with a knee injury. Daniels started at center in Iowa's 45-21 victory over Miami (Ohio) last week. ... Saturday's victory over Iowa State was the first for Iowa against the Cyclones at Kinnick Stadium since 2010. The Cyclones won each of their two previous match-ups in Iowa City, defeating the Hawkeyes 9-6 in 2012 and 20-17 in 2014. ... Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz improved to 9-9 in 18 games coached against Iowa State since taking over in 1999. Ferentz recently signed a contract extension this week through the 2025 season.
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