Texas Football fights to win against Iowa State 24-21
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas grit and fight until the end secured a win 24-21 against the tough, well coached Iowa State at DKR on a hot October afternoon. Texas now has a record of 5-2 and 3-1 in Big 12 Conference.
Coming off the crushing victory over OU may have put the team in a different mindset going into the game that presented itself difficult early. Texas ran 10 drives with 69 plays to put up 363 yards of total offense (172 passing / 191 rushing) and controlled the ball for 31:17 of the 60 minutes, however it was not the same dominant Texas that showed up against OU or Alabama, but they won against Iowa State, and we will take it.
In the first quarter nothing happened. The first drive ended in a missed field goal after running four plays and not advancing the ball. The next drive also had four plays, but Texas lost two yards and ended the drive with a punt that had you shaking your head wondering, “wait, where is the team that played last week and against Alabama?”
Finally, in the second quarter after an interception by Jaylon Ford in the end zone that denied a touchdown to Iowa State and changed the momentum, Texas scored a touchdown in nine plays over 80 yards with a 15 yard pass from Quinn Ewers to Xavier Worthy.
The Texas defense stopped Iowa State on their next drive and forced them to punt. On the ninth play, Ewers threw a five-yard pass up the middle to Jordan Whittington. You could hear a collective muffled cheer in the press box. We are not supposed to cheer.
Whittington is known for being such a selfless and reliable player usually being the blocker who allows a teammate to extend a run or score a touchdown. Getting a touchdown was the perfect reward for Whittington’s hard work and great team player attitude.
Iowa State seemed to catch the Texas secondary a bit off guard. Time and time again, Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers found the Texas secondary unable to defend against his passing.
Texas did make one field goal from 31 yards in the third quarter after running 13 plays and moving the ball 75 yards unable to convert into a touchdown.
One more touchdown in the fourth quarter on a Ewers to Worthy that gave Texas back the lead 24-21. Though Iowa State did seem to be on target to win as they marked the ball down the field in the last minutes of the game only to give up the ball on a fumble caused by Anthony Cook and recovered by Jaylon Ford on the Texas 28 yard line.
Texas went back to their run first offense to run out the close and win the game.
Fans kept DKR roaring filling the stadium to 100,072.
Texas travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma to battle Oklahoma State.
