Iowa State vs. Kansas final score: Cyclones fall in another slow start 34-14

Iowa State gets off to another slow start against Kansas, and despite a quick start to the second half, could never really compete in the last 30 minutes.

Sam B. Richardson‘s shoulder injury prevented him from suiting up on Saturday, so Grant Rohach had to come in. In his first start of the season, he completed 50 percent of his passes for 275 yards, two touchdowns, and a pick. That makes sense because he was good half the time, and really bad in the other half.

It wasn’t his fault in how the team played the first half though. The defense, right out of the gate, couldn’t stop anybody. It’s another game where the Cyclone defense allowed multiple 100-plus yard runners. Corey Avery and Tony Pierson both surpassed the century mark with 17 carries each.

That was only half of the offensive production for Kansas though. The other half came from quarterback Michael Cummings, who also suffered a shoulder injury yet completed 24 of 40 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown.

Nov 8, 2014; Lawrence, KS, USA; Iowa State Cyclones running back Aaron Wimberly (2) carries the ball against the Kansas Jayhawks in the second half at Memorial Stadium. Kansas won the game 34-14. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

It felt like Iowa State didn’t run the ball at all in the first half, but Aaron Wimberly finally started breaking through with good offensive line tackling, and he nearly had 100 yards himself (finished with 97) on 15 carries.

Wimberly started finding success when the offense had their best drive at the end of the first half. Iowa State was finally able to get a touchdown to E.J. Bibbs to cut the lead to 24-7. After Wimberly had a few successful runs, D’Vario Montgomery found the end zone on a 35-yard pass just 1:07 into the 3rd quarter. He led the team in receiving with 130 yards on eight catches.

Interestingly enough, it comes as a shock (and yet, not really a surprise) that Iowa State never scored after that. Once Cole Netten missed his first field goal of the season, that really took the life out of the team. The defense reverted back to giving up tons of yards and Kansas sealed the deal with 10 more points.