Carson Hansen ran for three touchdowns Saturday night and Rocco Becht threw for 265 yards as No.
Hansen carried 96 yards on 20 carries for the Cyclones, who improved to 3-0 in the Big 12 Conference. Becht completed 18 of 26 touchdown passes on the night the Mountaineers honored his father, Anthony, by inducting him into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
Garrett Greene completed 18 of 32 attempts for 206 yards and a 10-yard touchdown strike to Jahiem White with 1:10 left in the game. But Greene threw two devastating touchdown passes that Iowa State came in to break the game open in the fourth quarter.
The Mountaineers (3-3, 2-1) were on their way late in the third quarter to the Cyclones’ 29 when Greene forced a pass up the middle where Jamison Patton intercepted. Ten plays later, Hansen went for a 3 to give Iowa State a 21-10 advantage with 11:57 left in the game.
Greene then threw his next pass to the Cyclones’ Jontez Williams, rallying the visitors on a short field at the West Virginia 33. Hansen capped the scoring with a 2-and-out with 4:42 left.
After back-to-back conference wins, including a 38-14 drubbing of Oklahoma State last week, the Mountaineers are off to a promising start. They opened the game with a 14-play drive that lasted about eight minutes, scoring on White’s 8-yard run.
But the Cyclones found things in the second quarter. Becht tied the score less than two minutes into the period when he caught Jaylin Noel for a 60-yard touchdown pass. Iowa State opened a 17-play, 91-yard drive on its next possession that Hansen capped with an 11-yard run with 2:39 left.
West Virginia answered just before halftime when Greene hit Kole Taylor for 24 yards and Traylon Ray scored for 13. That set up Michael Hayes II’s 43-yard field goal with 32 seconds left, cutting the Cyclones’ lead to 14-10 at halftime. .
–Field Level Media