Iowa State Football Report Card vs. Kansas State

It was a disappointing loss for the Cyclones, but it’s hard to come back against a team that dominated time of possession in the second half, forced Iowa State into long drives, and went 7-10 on third down. Here are the grades for all three phases of the football team.

Oct 13, 2012; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Jared Barnett (7) scrambles past Kansas State Wildcats linebacker Justin Tuggle (2) during the second half at Jack Trice Stadium. Kansas State defeated Iowa State 27-21. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

Offense: B-

Jared Barnett looked comfortable in the first half and the hurry-up offense looked fluid when it was kicked on, but Kansas State made the right adjustments at halftime. Barnett’s passes were getting deflected by the defensive linemen due to him predictably throwing to his primary receivers. There was never any real feeling that the Cyclones could move down the field in the last two drives of the game. Looking at the stats are a bit ugly, but consider that the Wildcats had the ball for over 40 minutes in this game.

Defense: B

Jake Knott and A.J. Klein led the team with 24 tackles combined, and the team did all they could to try and get Collin Klein off the field. It didn’t happen, especially in the second half when Klein showed us a reason why he should be a Heisman contender. He finished with 303 yards combined passing and rushing. It was more him just playing brilliantly, but the Cyclones need to find a way to keep these Big 12 opponents from collecting so many yards and being on the field this much.

Special Teams: A-

Edwin Arceo made his field goals and extra points! That deserves an “A” in itself. Kirby Van Der Kamp had to punt it away five times, but only once did the ball land inside the 20.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Clones Confidential. Keep up with the latest sports fails and disdain toward the Big Ten by following him on Twitter.

Read his other work on the Oregon Ducks blog, Autzen Zoo, and Lacrosse the Web.