Any celebrating will need to end quickly for the Iowa Hawkeyes who get set top face nationally-ranked Arizona State on Saturday. The Hawkeyes claimed their first victory over Iowa State since 1997 with a 40-21 win in Ames. Leading 20-7 at the half, Iowa blocked two punts in the third quarter to erase any hopes the Cyclones had of another second-half comeback. Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz says they’re beyond being fragile football team and have developed a mental toughness. Iowa’s defense limited the Cyclones to just 71 yards of rushing and Matt Roth had one of three sacks against I-S-U quarterback Austin Flynn. Roth says the defensive line gains more confidence with each game, he says they have guys to love to hit and are having a blast. Nate Kaeding had four field goals and says Iowa State’s rally in the 2002 game was on their minds at half. He says it was eerily similar to last year and they weren’t about to let it slip away again.Kaeding’s extra point late in the fourth quarter allowed him to become Iowa’s all-time career scoring leader. He moved past Rob Houghtlin who played for the Hawks from 1985 through 1987. He says he gauges his success by how well he can contribute to the team winning, and he says that’s what Houghtlin did. Despite being harassed all day, Austin Flynn finished with 239 yards of passing and scored the Cyclones’ first touchdown with a 25-yard first quarter run. He says it bothers him to see the seniors lose. He says it’s hard to bare and he feels he let the seniors down a little bit. The Cyclones return to action in two weeks with a visit to Northern Illinois. He says the break will give them time to practice more and get some injured people back. Flynn says they’ll see how well they’ve improved when they meet Northern Illinois.
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