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    JEFF BUNDY/THE WORLD-HERALD


    The Cyclones relied on turnovers to stop four Husker drives inside their 5-yard line to hold Nebraska to its lowest point total in the series since 1959.




    FOOTBALL

    Cyclones show coach they've developed red-zone resilience

    Analysis: Postgame with Mitch Sherman

    LINCOLN — Iowa State's defense took the bend-but-don't-break philosophy to an extreme in Saturday's 9-7 victory over Nebraska.

    The Cyclones relied on turnovers to stop four Husker drives inside their 5-yard line to hold Nebraska to its lowest point total in the series since 1959.

    “Getting those turnovers in the red zone were huge,'' Iowa State linebacker Jesse Smith said. “It kind of felt like they were in our red zone the whole game. Coach has been harping on that when teams get in the red zone, you can't give up. Today we made plays when we had to.''

    The Cyclones came into Memorial Stadium ranked 60th nationally in turnover margin, having produced one more takeway (16) than they had given up (15) in their first seven games. They finished with an 8-0 advantage against the Huskers, intercepting quarterback Zac Lee three times and recovered five of the Huskers' seven fumbles.

    Iowa State thwarted one Nebraska scoring drive when David Sims intercepted Lee at the Iowa State 1 early in the second quarter. The Huskers saw another scoring chance disappear when wide receiver Niles Paul lost control of the football near the end of what would have been a 73-yard scoring play. Iowa State safety James Smith covered Paul's fumble in the end zone.

    Two more fumble recoveries, by Michael O'Connell in the end zone and James Smith at the Iowa State 5, ended Nebraska scoring drives in the third quarter. All told, eight of Nebraska's 13 possessions ended in turnovers.

    “That was a wacky game, but that's how it goes sometimes in college football,'' defensive tackle Nate Frere said. “It all goes back to the mentality that we have. We're a blue-collar team. We're resilient. We don't quit.

    “Even when they were knocking on the door, we had confidence that someone was going to make a play.''

    The turnovers helped Iowa State negate Nebraska's 362-239 advantage in total yardage. Playing without its top two offensive players — quarterback Austen Arnaud and running back Alexander Robinson — Iowa State relied on a conservative approach to ease the pressure on redshirt freshmen Jerome Tiller and Jeremiah Schwartz.

    Asked what he figured others might have thought of Iowa State's chances without Arnaud and Robinson, center Reggie Stephens replied, “Slim and none. Unless you know our team.”

    “We came in here with the mind-set that we were going to win the game,” Stephens said. “That started last Sunday night, when coach Rhoads told us we were going to be the first Iowa State team to win here since 1977.''

    Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads admitted he was hard pressed to explain why his team could come up with eight turnovers.

    “Who knows why we get all those balls out like we do?'' he said. “We didn't do any extra strip drills or anything like that. Strange, strange day. Maybe somebody thought 32 years was long enough and we needed to come out of here with a victory.''

    Rhoads took over a program that went winless in Big 12 play last season and finished 2-10 under predecessor Gene Chizik. Heading into the final week of October, Iowa State is 5-3 overall, and its 2-2 league record puts it in second place in the Big 12 North.

    Iowa State's two conference losses were by a point to Kansas State and by five points to Kansas. Those losses, Rhoads said, have helped set a tone that has produced Big 12 wins over Baylor and Nebraska.

    “Kids today in my opinion, or at least some of the guys I've been around in the last five to seven years, are too resilient,'' he said. “They bounce back too fast. But those losses hurt. Those were long bus rides home.

    “There was a lot of carryover in the kind of work we had to do, but we didn't shy away from it.''

    Contact the writer:

    679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com


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