Aiden Flora delivers for Iowa State football vs TCU to snap four-game skid | Hines
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
FORT WORTH – There were times throughout Iowa State football’s four-game losing streak that just begged for someone, anyone to make a play.
To take the reins of the game, the season and, most importantly, the moment and simply flip everything. Never, though, did it come.
Just as the Cyclones’ losing streak looked set to reach five games, Aiden Flora decided to just go ahead and change everything.
The freshman's 79-yard punt return touchdown in the fourth quarter gave Iowa State an improbable, wild and desperately-needed 20-17 victory on Saturday, Nov. 8, over TCU.
It was a moment of electricity for a team and a program that for most of the last month have been living in the darkness created by cascading losses and rising frustration.
As injuries ravaged the secondary and quarterback Rocco Becht struggled, the Cyclones were just screaming for a playmaker and game-changer. I imagine few would have guessed that player would eventually arrive in the form of a fifth-string, walk-on running back from Adel.
There Flora was, though, fielding the ball on his own 21-yard line. After a short stutter-step, he broke right and then back right up the middle, a gaping stretch of field the Horned Frogs' coverage unit seemingly abandoned. There was no stopping Flora until he crossed the goal-line and gave the Cyclones the lead and, eventually, the victory.
Much of the afternoon was an uphill hike for the Cyclones, whose defense played excellently but again got little from the offense.
Becht struggled again, going 9 of 24 for 11 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He didn't cross the century mark in passing yards until late in the fourth quarter. The pass that did it, though, was a gutsy 15-yard completion on third down that kept the ball with the Cyclones and the clock working against TCU. He also later picked up a first-down on a fourth-and-1 naked bootleg with under 2 minutes to play that all but secured the win for Iowa State
While the passing game offered little for Iowa State, the running game was once again a huge positive. Carson Hansen went over 100 yards for the third-straight game with 108 yards on 28 carries.
The victory spares Iowa State the indignity of needing a victory in its last two games to secure bowl eligibility after a 5-0 start to the season. The Cyclones now head into their third and final bye week of the season not limping along with a five-game slide, but instead bowl eligibility and a jolt that could conceivably power them to an eight-win season with winnable games against Kansas and Oklahoma State remaining.
This season will likely be remembered for what could have been, but the Cyclones started down the path back toward respectability by beating TCU. Missing a bowl game – or even having to go to hapless Oklahoma State needing that sixth victory – would have been an all-time disappointment after a 5-0 start.
Now, that’s no worry. Now, Iowa State’s losing streak is over. Now, the Cyclones get a chance to finish with heads held high.
Because Aiden Flora of Adel-Desoto-Minburn fielded a punt and went on to change an entire game and maybe even more.
Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football finally gets a game-changing play | Hines
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos