Iowa football escapes in Cy-Hawk game

Caden Buhr's 42-yard field goal with 15 seconds left secured a 16-13 victory for Iowa over Iowa State.

Iowa wide receiver Tony Diaz had a significant impact, finishing with eight catches for 95 yards.

The Hawkeyes' running game was largely contained by the Cyclones' defense, finishing with just 93 yards.

An officiating error resulted in 37 seconds being incorrectly run off the clock late in the third quarter.

IOWA CITY — Kyle Konrardy waited on Iowa State’s sideline, surely ready to slay Iowa yet again in the final minutes of a Cy-Hawk football game.

But this time, the Hawkeyes were able to make him stay there.

Iowa finally swiped one in — shocker — another down-to-the-wire Iowa vs. Iowa State finish.

Caden Buhr’s 42-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining capped a short game-winning drive for the Hawkeyes, and the Iowa defense hung on for dear life to escape with a 16-13 victory before 69,250 breathless fans at Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 12.

The Cyclones (1-1) played a heck of a game. They did everything they needed to do against Iowa to have a chance. They didn’t turn the ball over. They controlled the running game. They grinded out field position and took advantage of their kicker, who had knocked through 54-yard field goals in each of the past two seasons vs. Iowa to deliver 20-19 and 16-13 victories for Iowa State.

Iowa (2-0) was hardly spectacular. Outside of a long pass to Tony Diaz in the first half, the offense was stuck in neutral much of the night. This looked like an old-school Iowa recipe: Rely on the defense and try to win a close game.

Yet Iowa was favored by 14 points in this one. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

But on a wild day in college football when major upsets dotted the landscape (like Oklahoma State over Oregon as a 24-point underdog), any win is a good win.

The Hawkeyes stuck with quarterback Hank Brown for the duration of this one. And while the offense wasn’t spectacular, it was a winning performance. Brown finished 21-for-30 for 191 yards and rushed for 22 yards and the Hawkeyes’ lone touchdown.

Brown botched the finish vs. Indiana a year ago in a tight game, missing a screen pass that would’ve potentially given Iowa a 16-13 victory in a 13-13 game. This time, Iowa just stuck to the running game in the final minutes – calling run on the final seven plays, grinding out two first downs after taking over at its own 45 with 4:28 to go.

Buhr delivered on all three of his field-goal attempts. The Bettendorf native was the kicking hero in this one, not Konrardy.

Tony Diaz is 2-for-2 in living up to the hype

Diaz was getting open all evening, it was just a matter of the quarterback hitting him.

Brown missed Diaz on a deep post over the middle in the second quarter, the pass going both too far and behind the electric wide-receiver transfer.

Down 10-0 midway through the second quarter, offensive coordinator Tim Lester went back to what looked like the same play — and this time it hit. Diaz beat the one-on-one coverage of Iowa State cornerback Seth Johnson, the same man he beat earlier, and hauled in a 56-yard deep shot to put Iowa inside the 10-yard line when Kinnick Stadium desperately needed a spark. Brown put the ball where it needed to be, in front of Diaz so that he could make a play.

We've heard that Diaz can go up and catch about anything in practice, so giving him a chance is generally a good rule of thumb.

Three plays later, Brown rolled into the end zone from 1 yard out to trim Iowa State’s lead to 10-7 with 5:34 left in the second quarter.

On the ensuing drive, Brown connected with Diaz for a 12-yarder against zone coverage to set up Caden Buhr’s 45-yard field goal that tied the score, 10-10, going into halftime. Diaz's route-running is so fast and precise, it's not something we've seen from an Iowa receiver for quite some time.

Diaz’s 56-yarder marked Iowa’s longest reception since 2024. The Texas-Rio Grande Valley transfer was impressive in Iowa’s opener (seven catches, 84 yards), but it was good to see him back up the buzz for yet another week. Even national writers around the country were popping up with praise for Iowa’s newfound receiver. Diaz's 92 first-half yards were the most by an Iowa receiver since 2021.

Iowa State did a much better job against Diaz in the second half, though Brown missed him on another potential deep shot in the third quarter when he had pressure in his face. Diaz finished with eight catches for 95 yards.

Remember, Iowa hasn't had a 500-yard wide receiver (crazy, isn't it?) since Ihmir Smith-Marsette in 2019. Through two games, Dias has 15 catches for 179 yards.

Big story of the night: Iowa’s run game held in check

One of the assumptions coming into this game was that Iowa would be able to control the line of scrimmage with an overpowering offensive line. But the Hawkeyes couldn’t get going on the ground, at all.

Kamari Moulton, who averaged 16.6 yards per carry a week ago and entered the week as the nation’s third-leading rusher, had no runs longer than 6 yards through the first three quarters. It reached a point where Lester seemed to lose confidence in the run game. Six of his first seven play calls of the second half were passes, netting one first down and 24 yards.

Iowa State, in fact, had the better run game. Aiden Flora uncorked a 34-yarder early in the third quarter to help the Cyclones turn around momentum after Iowa had rallied to tie the score 10-10, at the break. Kyle Konrardy’s 51-yard field goal (he’s the master of 50-plus field goals in this series) presented Iowa State with a 13-10 lead with 10:06 left in the third.

Through three quarters, Iowa State had 125 rushing yards on 30 carries to Iowa's 46 yards on 15 carries and a three-point lead. Iowa finished with 29 carries for 93 yards on the ground and only 284 yards for the game.

One poor QB sneak tilted the first quarter Iowa State’s way

Mark Gronowski was a machine at picking up quarterback-sneak or quarterback-run first downs in short yardage for Iowa in 2025. The Hawkeyes sure could have used him in the first quarter Saturday, when Iowa tried a fourth-and-1 sneak from Iowa State’s 40 … and Hank Brown was stopped about a foot short.

The sneak had very little push and it was a stretch to try to get a full yard in that situation without Gronowski. The decision and execution ultimately backfired, costing Iowa crucial field position. Despite getting a three-and-out on defense, Iowa State’s punt rolled to the Iowa 5-yard line.

After an Iowa three-and-out, Iowa punted from its own 8 and Iowa State took over at Iowa’s 45. Thus, the failed QB sneak, despite Iowa State not gaining a first down in that time, proved equivalent to a turnover or worse. The Cyclones turned that advantageous position into a 3-0 lead on Konrardy’s 29-yard field goal with 14:17 left in the second quarter.

It was impressive to see Iowa State first-year coach Jimmy Rogers deliver an early game plan that was akin to many we've seen from Iowa when its offense was limited. The Cyclones essentially manufactured a 10-0 lead by chipping away at field position and taking advantage when the opportunity arose.

Speaking of quarterback sneaks, it might be time to junk that play. Iowa tried a QB sneak on second-and-goal from the Iowa State 1 later in the second quarter, and Brown was stacked up for no gain. The next play, he took a QB sweep to the left into the end zone (out of a shotgun formation) from 1 yard out.

Brown was a decent runner on this night, but not a good sneaker.

Officials messed up the clock, someone should have noticed

An overturned completion late in the third quarter ultimately subtracted 37 seconds from the game clock in a tight game.

And nobody noticed. Not the refs, not anyone on Iowa’s side — at least not to the point where a coach jumped in to complain.

On third-and-16, Jaylen Raynor took a snap with 1:04 to play in the third quarter and seemingly threw complete to Omari Hayes for 12 yards, so the clock kept running. Right before Iowa State was set to punt, with 19 seconds on the clock, officials were buzzed for a replay review.

The throw was ultimately ruled incomplete. The replay showed the ball touched the ground with 56 seconds left in the third quarter. But officials failed to reset the clock to that point, and Iowa State got to punt with :19 showing. After a punt and one play by Iowa, the third quarter ended.

Thus, 37 seconds were lost to the atmosphere. A week after a controversial clock ruling in the Michigan-Western Michigan game, this was another black eye for officiating. Though this time, it was a Big 12 crew. Still, Iowa’s sideline needs to be on top of that. Down three points in a tight game, every second matters.

And as it turned out, Iowa State could have used those 37 seconds at the end. The Cyclones' last-gasp drive stalled at their own 49-yard line.

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