The Iowa State football team added one more memorable moment to its historic season on Saturday.
The 19th-ranked Cyclones celebrated a win in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, beating No. 16 Miami 42-41.
Their latest victory finished off one of the most successful seasons in school history.
But we’ll have more on that later.
More:Hines: Iowa State football wins 11th game with Pop-Tarts Bowl victory over Miami
Saturday’s back-and-forth battle had plenty of big plays, huge stats and gigantic performances.
Here are five numbers that stood out from Iowa State’s win over Miami.
Ward is widely considered a first-round NFL Draft pick, so there was really no reason for him to play, other than to battle with his teammates for one more game. But Ward opted to play the first half of Saturday’s game and was nearly unstoppable.
He completed 12-of-19 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns. He helped Miami build up a 38-35 lead at the half. But the electrifying quarterback sat out the remainder of the game and Miami’s offense was never the same.
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Iowa State’s defense has been far from its elite self during parts of the season. Saturday was no different as the Cyclones struggled to get stops on Miami, especially early on. But the defense came up with several big plays when it mattered most, forcing two fumbles and picking off a pass.
Miami’s first possession ended with Iowa State’s Cael Brezina recovering a fumble. Cyclones linebacker Will McLaughlin forced a second-quarter fumble. Then, Iowa State’s Drew Surges put the finishing touches on the victory by picking off Miami backup quarterback Emory Williams on the final play of the game.
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Becht was great on Saturday. The Iowa State quarterback completed 22-of-36 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns. He also tallied 23 rushing yards and added a key touchdown on the ground that won the game.
Becht led an Iowa State offense that produced 415 yards of total offense and converted on 6-of-13 third downs. One of Becht’s biggest plays came when he scrambled 11-yards to convert on a key third-and-6 from Iowa State’s own 20-yard line on the Cyclones’ final drive of the day.
Iowa State’s record-setting season came to an end with a victory in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The 11 victories are a single-season school record that had already been broken before the game.
But the postseason victory helped further enhance what a remarkable season it has been for the Cyclones, who went to the Big 12 Conference title game and were knocking on the door of the College Football Playoff for most of the season.
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Iowa State’s offense rolled early on, producing 21 first-quarter points. The Cyclones set the stage for what looked like an early offensive explosion for both teams by scoring touchdowns on their first four possessions of the game.
It wasn’t until Iowa State’s fifth possession of the game, which came during the second quarter, that the Cyclones were finally forced to punt. That early offense helped the Cyclones keep up with Miami’s offense.

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