Marginal play in ‘the margins’ dooms No. 14 Iowa State in road loss at Cincinnati

CINCINNATI — Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell’s plea resonates — and it serves as a constant rallying cry.

His team must excel in “precision and detail” or it won’t win football games.

Simple as that. No ifs, ands, or buts. And Saturday’s 38-30 loss at Cincinnati served as the latest object lesson for what stands between success and failure for the No. 14 Cyclones, who fell behind 31-7 late in the first half, and couldn’t recover in a flaw- and flag-filled game at Nippert Stadium.

“There (are) a lot of those little things in the football game when you look at it — and we’re gonna watch this — and obviously we’re gonna be frustrated with the lack of detail,” said Campbell, whose team fell to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play. “But, again, I’m saying all of that with the understanding that (Cincinnati) is a really good football team.”

The Bearcats (4-1, 2-1) flexed their muscles early, scoring points on all five of their first-half possessions — and touchdowns on four of them. They powered through ISU’s defense for 216 rushing yards in the first half alone and averaged a robust 8 yards per play overall.

  Buy Photo

The Cyclones, meanwhile, didn’t show many signs of life until quarterback Rocco Becht spearheaded a last-minute six-play, 75-yard penalty-aided touchdown drive that made the score 31-15 at halftime. They later inched closer to trail, 31-22, on Becht’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Brett Eskildsen midway through the third quarter, but couldn’t turn a Bearcats fumble recovered by defensive lineman Jace Gilbert on the ensuing possession into points.

“We know we shot ourselves in the foot early and we’ve just gotta be better detailed and have better precision on stuff and in certain situations,” said Becht, who threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for that late first half touchdown. “That’s what the Big 12 is for, you know — you go on the road and any team can win any single day. And I think that’s what happened today. That team wanted it more than us.”

The Cyclones punched back multiple times to hang around until Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby found a wide-open Caleb Goodie for an 82-yard scoring strike on a third-and-8 play with 5:57 remaining. That gave the Bearcats a 38-22 lead — and also essentially extinguished the Cyclones’ faint hopes for a stirring comeback.

“I think we probably sold out to stop the run,” Campbell said of that fateful Sorsby-to-Goodie connection. “That was a great call (by Cincinnati), so tip your hat to those guys. I mean, man, they made a great play in the moment, and like I said, I feel like if you diagnosed the game, we were there to make some of those plays in the moment (and) just didn’t make them.”

ISU also saw backup kicker Chase Smith miss a 35-yard field-goal attempt, and the ongoing absence of starter Kyle Konrardy — who hit the game-winning 54-yard field goal against Iowa a month ago — continues to affect the offense’s approach. To wit, the Cyclones went for it on fourth down seven times and converted just four after starting the season 5-for-5 in those situations.

“Those are moments that, man, you’ve gotta make those,” said Campbell, whose team lost for just the second time in the past 20 games when scoring 30 or more points. “We just didn’t have the ability to make some of those moments, but obviously we’re super grateful for what Chase is doing. He’s giving our team a chance and that’s all you can ask for.”

So is his team’s “attitude and effort,” which serves as an even more ardent rallying cry for Campbell’s Cyclones during the last nine-plus seasons. They weren’t lacking in that area, which provides at least some solace going forward — and grist for next Saturday’s road game at Colorado.

“I really just think we came out with a different attitude (in the second half),” linebacker Caleb Bacon said. “If we kept playing the way we were playing, I mean, we were just gonna be embarrassed. Nobody wants that.”

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com