Injuries Have Become Too Much for Iowa State Cyclones Football To Overcome

The Iowa State Cyclones are being done in by injuries.

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The Iowa State Cyclones faced major obstacles heading into their first true road game of the Big 12 schedule, traveling to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats. Easily the biggest was how many key contributors they were missing because of injury.

On defense, they were missing their two star cornerbacks, Jeremiah Cooper and Jontez Williams. Both suffered season-ending knee injuries, with this being the second game without Cooper and the first without Williams.

Another major blow has been the loss of kicker Kyle Konrardy. After kicking the Cyclones to a victory against their in-state rivals, the Iowa Hawkeyes, to win the Cy-Hawk Trophy, he hasn’t been the same.

He suffered the injury against the Arkansas State Red Wolves, missing a field goal attempt and a point-after try in that matchup. Dealing with what has been categorized as a day-to-day injury, he missed last week’s game against the Arizona Wildcats and didn’t suit up this weekend against the Bearcats.

Injuries are too much for Iowa State to overcome

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Those losses proved costly against Cincinnati. The Bearcats took full advantage of their losses, building an early lead that proved too much for Iowa State to overcome. They scored the first 17 points of the game, moving the ball with ease against what was a formidable defense en route to a 38-30 win.

The losses of Cooper and Williams were certainly felt. Brendan Sorsby completed only 13 of 25 passes but racked up 214 yards and two touchdowns. Cincinnati iced the game when Sorsby connected with speedster Caleb Goodie on 3rd and 8 with 5:57 remaining in the game to extend the lead to 38-22.

Breakdowns in the secondary for big plays occurred far too often. It is something defensive coordinator Jon Heacock will have to work through with his star cornerbacks sidelined.

Alas, despite their absence, the Cyclones had some opportunities to take control of the game in the second half. A worthwhile effort was given to a comeback, but the loss of Konrardy ultimately was too much to overcome.

Kyle Konrardy injury has derailed Cyclones offensive game plan

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Had head coach Matt Campbell had a kicker he trusted more, the outcome of this game would have been different. Chase Smith missed a 35-yard attempt in the second quarter, which completely changed how the offense operated.

Three times, while in what would be field goal range for Konrardy, Iowa State opted to go for it on fourth down. They turned the ball over on downs each time, coming away scoreless. In a game that ended up being decided by eight points, three successful field goal attempts in those scoreless drives would have flipped the outcome.

There were a lot of reasons that the Cyclones suffered their first loss of the season. Some of them, like their tackling and discipline, can be cleaned up. However, the injuries will prove much more difficult to overcome in the coming weeks.