MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht believes the Cyclones have yet to hit their peak during their best start in 86 years.
Carson Hansen rushed for three scores, Becht threw a touchdown pass and No. 11 Iowa State beat West Virginia 28-16 on Saturday night.
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The Cyclones (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) opened the season with six wins for the first time since 1938.
“I feel like we haven’t even played our best game yet as a whole — special teams, defense, and offense,” Becht said. The goal is “finding ways to get better each and every single week, and our mindset is just 0-0 and trying to win that next game.”
Iowa State forged a first-place tie in the league with BYU and idle Texas Tech.
The Cyclones broke open a close game by scoring two touchdowns after intercepting West Virginia’s Garrett Greene in the second half.
Becht found Eli Green on passes of 12 and 34 yards on consecutive plays to set up the Cyclones at the West Virginia 17. A third-down holding call on West Virginia cornerback Ayden Garnes gave Iowa State first-and-goal at the 3, and Hansen scored on the next play for a 21-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Jontez Williams made his third interception of the season on West Virginia’s next drive, and Iowa State took over at the Mountaineers’ 34. Hansen ran for 20 yards on the ensuing drive, capped by his 2-yard scoring run for a 28-10 lead with 4:42 left.
Hansen, a sophomore who also scored on an 11-yard run in the second quarter, finished with 96 rushing yards, one shy of the career high he set last week against Baylor. He ran for a total of 67 yards during an injury-filled freshman season.
“For him to consistently play the way he has the last couple of weeks, it's awesome to watch,” Becht said.
West Virginia (3-3, 2-1) was held to 148 rushing yards against the league's top defense after amassing 389 yards on the ground a week ago at Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers were hurt by several high snaps that threw off their timing and runs parallel to the line of scrimmage that lost yardage.
“In the second half, when it was winning time, we didn’t win,” said West Virginia coach Neal Brown. “We struggled to get into a rhythm.”
Becht completed 18 of 26 passes for 265 yards, including a 60-yard scoring toss to Jaylin Noel in blown coverage in the second quarter.
Becht's father, Anthony, was honored on the field after the first quarter for his induction into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He played tight end for the Mountaineers from 1996-99 and 11 seasons in the NFL.
“You couldn't ask for a greater night for his family,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said.
Rocco Becht said he wished he could have been there with his dad, “but I had bigger things going on trying to win this game.”
Jahiem White had an 8-yard scoring run and a 10-yard TD catch for West Virginia. Greene finished 18 of 32 for 206 yards.
The takeaway
Iowa State: The Cyclones answered the challenge on both sides of the ball in winning their seventh straight road game. Becht played smart and efficient, and the nation's sixth-best scoring defense was stout again.
West Virginia: The Mountaineers many too many mistakes at key times and now have lost eight consecutive games to ranked opponents.
Poll implications
Iowa State might have a tough time moving up when the AP poll comes out on Sunday. The Cyclones were tied at No. 11 with Notre Dame, which beat Stanford 49-7.
Up next
Iowa State: Hosts UCF on Saturday night.
West Virginia: Hosts No. 18 Kansas State on Saturday night.
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