Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
AMES, Iowa – Aiden Flora had five touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 1:57 left, and Iowa State held off West Virginia 45-42 Saturday in a back-and-forth showdown in which the teams combined for over 1,000 yards of offense.
The Mountaineers (3-2, 0-2 Big 12) scored touchdowns on four consecutive possessions and took a 42-38 lead when Michael Hawkins Jr. connected with DJ Epps for a 47-yard touchdown with 5:04 remaining.
But the Cyclones answered with a 74-yard drive that ended with Flora’s 2-yard touchdown run, giving the Cyclones the lead for good.
The two teams combined for 1,095 yards of offense, with Iowa State totaling 577 and WVU finishing with 518. The 1,095 yards were the fourth-most in an FBS game this season.
Flora rushed for 212 yards and three scores on 22 carries while adding two touchdown passes.
His first touchdown pass came on a 46-yard play when Flora caught a lateral from Jaylen Raynor and found a wide-open Cody Jackson for the score.
Flora’s second touchdown pass came on a trick play when he took a pitch and flipped the ball 2 yards to Vince Benetti, giving Iowa State a 21-14 halftime lead. Flora then added a 24-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to put the Cyclones ahead by two scores.
Raynor completed 19 of 27 passes for 264 yards, while Jackson caught six passes for 160 yards.
The Mountaineers responded with a rally of their own in the second half. Hawkins and Cam Cook each carried the ball 20 times, with Hawkins rushing for 149 yards and Cook adding 142.
Hawkins accounted for four touchdowns, rushing for two and throwing for two.
The loss marked the second consecutive week WVU allowed more than 500 yards of offense after Oklahoma State totaled 389 passing yards in a 41-24 victory over the Mountaineers.
“Two games in a row, atrocious defense,” WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “They ran hard and got some good players, but I thought we were fixing some of the issues and it didn’t look like it. We’ve got to do a better job. Twenty-nine first downs, 577 yards, two game-winning drives. All we needed was a stop. Hard to watch.”
Despite the defensive struggles, the Mountaineers continued to produce offensively, but their inability to stop Iowa State’s final possession proved costly.
“There’s frustration, definitely,” Mountaineers linebacker Cam Torbor said. “We’re ready to get back at it. This game’s over. We’re going to come back harder than before.”
WVU returns home next Saturday to host Arizona for a noon kickoff.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
