Iowa State Outlasts West Virginia 45-42 Behind Aiden Flora
Aiden Flora threw two passes and completed both, for touchdowns. Then he ran 22 times for 212 yards and three more. That is how Iowa State got past West Virginia 45-42 in a game with five lead changes and three ties.
West Virginia scored first, on a 33-yard pass from Michael Hawkins Jr. to Cyrus Traugh. Iowa State tied it on a Jaylen Raynor touchdown pass, and then Flora threw a 46-yarder to Cody Jackson and a two-yarder to Vince Benetti to make it 21-14 at halftime. A 24-yard Flora run early in the third made it 28-14. West Virginia answered with two straight touchdowns, the second a Cam Cook run that tied it at 28 with 1:07 left in the quarter.
The fourth quarter was a trade. Iowa State kicked a field goal, Cook ran in from eight yards to put West Virginia up 35-31, and Flora answered with a 63-yard run. Then Hawkins found DJ Epps from 47 yards to make it 42-38 with 5:04 to go. Flora had the last word, a two-yard run with 1:57 left. Nobody scored after that.
The yardage was close (Iowa State 578, West Virginia 518). What separated them was small: West Virginia lost two fumbles and Iowa State threw one interception. Jaylen Raynor went 19 of 27 for 264 yards for Iowa State, and Jackson finished with six catches for 160 yards. Between Flora's 63-yard run and Hawkins' 47-yard pass to Epps, only 1:04 of game clock ran and the lead changed hands twice. Both teams are 3-2. If you had Flora, you had a very good Saturday, 53.1 Promethium points and a season high.