Recap: Iowa State football beat Northern Iowa, 30-9, in season opener

AMES – Iowa State football kicked off the 2023 season with a 30-9 win over the University of Northern Iowa on Saturday.

The Cyclones came in hot in the first quarter, with a 14-0 lead jump-started with a pick-six from Jeremiah Cooper. Rocco Becht followed that with a one-yard rush for the first offensive touchdown of the game.

Becht had a hand in all three of the Cyclones touchdowns. He scored the first one on the ground and threw two additional touchdowns passes, to Tyler Moore and Benjamin Brahmer. Chase Contreraz added three points off a 56-yard field goal at the end of the first half.

UNI’s nine points came off a 31-yard field goal and a three-yard touchdown pass from Theo Day, both coming in the second half.

Iowa State holds a 1-0 record heading into next Saturday’s CyHawk matchup against Iowa, which beat Utah State on Saturday afternoon.

Postgame: Matt Campbell on the win over UNI

“We talked about trying to get off to a good start. For us, in a game like this with such a young team…to have a guy stand up and make a big play…our ability to stack our responses, a guy makes a big play.

"That play set the tone, especially from our standpoint of things we’ve talked about.”

Postgame: Matt Campbell on Rocco Becht’s rushing touchdown

“You can remember some times last year (him) getting in there and not doing that. Our execution, for the most part, throughout that game was solid.”

Postgame: Matt Campbell on Nate Scheelhaase’s first game as offensive coordinator

“We took care of the football, we were efficient in the redzone. I thought he did a great job.”

Postgame: Matt Campbell on playing eight different linebackers

“The guy that sticks out the most for me is Caleb Bacon…a guy who’s just emerged. It’s the two sacks, it’s the negative yardage plays that he has the ability to make.”

Postgame: Matt Campbell on the tight end room

“This is one of the deepest rooms we’ve ever had here…and to say that is a lot.”

FINAL — Iowa State 30, Northern Iowa 9

Caleb Bacon sacked Theo Day and then made the tackle on Harrison Bey-Buie's final carry to finish off the game. The Cyclones start the season with a 1-0 record.

11:30/Q4 — Iowa State 30, Northern Iowa 9

UNI scored its first touchdown of the game off a three-yard pass from Theo Day to Desmond Hutson. The Panthers gave the ball to Day again for a two-point conversion attempt, which was thwarted by Iowa State's defense.

Myles Purchase returned the kick following the attempt 55 yards to the 45-yard line, but a holding call on Easton Dean took it all the way back to the seven-yard line.

14:29/Q4 — Rocco Becht exits again, JJ Kohl back behind center

Rocco Becht went down with what looked like a leg cramp and headed to the sidelines. JJ Kohl is back in at quarterback.

End of third quarter — Northern Iowa in hot spot late to start fourth quarter

The Panthers start the fourth quarter with the ball, but UNI has it on the 50-yard line with a looming 3rd and 20. Myles Purchase sacked Theo Day for a loss of ten yards to finish the third quarter. Iowa State still holds a 30-3 lead with one quarter left to play.

8:03/Q3 — Iowa State 30, Northern Iowa 3

Northern Iowa trekked all the way down to the 14-yard line, but three broken up passes in the end zone — two from Ben Nikkel and one from Jontez Williams — stopped the Panthers in their track. UNI takes over five minutes off the clock but settles for a field goal.

13:08/Q3 — Iowa State 30, Northern Iowa 0

Another tight end touchdown for the Cyclones.

This time it was true freshman Benjamin Brahmer, who hauled in a 36-yard pass from Rocco Becht. Point after from Chase Contreraz is good, and Iowa State holds a 30-point lead early in the third quarter.

HALFTIME — Iowa State 23, Northern Iowa 0

Jeremiah Cooper picked off Theo Day for the second time on Saturday, but he wasn't able to return it for another touchdown. He did make it 30 yards before being taken down by UNI's defense. Iowa State got the ball back with four seconds left on the clock and opted for a field goal.

Chase Contreraz hit a 56-yard field goal to up Iowa State's lead to 23 over UNI heading into the locker room.

0:48/Q2 — Iowa State 20, Northern Iowa 0

Former Johnston high school football start Tyler Moore grabbed a 14-yard pass from Rocco Becht and scored his first career touchdown. Extra point is no good, after a high snap and a struggle to get the ball down.

3:39/Q2 — UNI remains stagnant on offense

Iowa State's defense has managed to keep Northern Iowa's offense, led by superstar quarterback Theo Day, at bay. The Cyclones hold a two touchdown lead — including a pick-six — with under four minutes to play in the first half.

ISU has the ball on the 29-yard line, and Rocco Becht is back behind center.

10:27/Q2 — JJ Kohl takes over at quarterback

True freshman JJ Kohl has entered the game at quarterback. Both Kohl and Becht were listed as possible starters for Saturday's game, and it looks like Campbell is going to test both quarterbacks in the season opener.

End of Q1 — Iowa State 14, Northern Iowa 0

Two first quarter touchdowns by Iowa State, one on offense and another on defense, have put the Panthers in an early deficit. The Panthers have really struggled to get any momentum on offense.

1:26/Q1 — Iowa State 14, Northern Iowa 0

Rocco Becht goes one yard on the quarterback keeper for Iowa State's first offensive touchdown of the season. Point after from Chase Contreraz is good, and the Cyclones take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

8:04/Q1 — Cyclones use first timeout after 4th and 1

Iowa State tried to draw UNI offsides on 4th and 1, but the Panthers weren't having it. Matt Campbell called a timeout instead, and Tyler Perkins went out for the punt. He sent the ball 70 yards downfield, where it was downed at the 2-yard line by Darien Porter.

12:45/Q1 — Iowa State 7, Northern Iowa 0

The Cyclones jumped out to an early lead...despite starting the game on defense. Jeremiah Cooper intercepted Theo Day's pass (intended for Sam Schnee) on the 42-yard line and returned it 58 yards for touchdown. It marked ISU's first pick-six since Oct. 30, 2021.

1:00 p.m. — Northern Iowa offense starts with the ball

Iowa State won the toss and elected to defer. UNI will receive first, and the Panthers defend the north goal.

Breaking down Iowa State's depth chart...sort of

So, Iowa State released a depth chart this week.

But it didn't exactly clear up who the expected starters are at many positions.

It didn't help that the word "or" appeared quite often throughout the chart. Like, Rocco Becht OR JJ Kohl as starting quarterback. Then there's the real doozy at running back, which lists Cartevious Norton OR Eli Sanders OR Abu Sama OR Carson Hansen OR A.J. Harris (in that order).

Sure seems like there are still more questions than answers.

More: Peterson: Even with a depth chart, projecting Iowa State starters is just a guess

But our Cyclones columnist Randy Peterson tried his hand at predicting who would start Saturday's game against Northern Iowa. Spoilers: He thinks Becht makes the cut for starting quarterback, and it looks like Norton is his frontrunner at running back.

What should Iowa State fans expect from Malik Verdon?

With so much turnover on Iowa State's roster, there is still some good news coming out of the Cyclones' secondary.

A handful of starters return, including a likely NFL Draft selection in cornerback T.J. Tampa. Then there is Malik Verdon, who showed flashes of potential last year but had his season cut short by injury.

“It was a process,” Verdon said Tuesday. “Getting injured isn’t everyone’s favorite, but it’s a grind. You’ve got to push through it.”

More: Malik Verdon hoping to add to Iowa State football's secondary after injury

Here is why our Iowa State beat writer Travis Hines wrote about Iowa State's mystery man:

The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder from Ohio tallied just 11 tackles last season, but the six (including 1.5 for a loss) he recorded against Baylor previewed a level of productivity that could pay dividends this season for an Iowa State defense that will lean heavily on its secondary with so much inexperience across its front seven.

Will the success of the defensive line continue in 2023?

Matt Campbell, Jon Heacock and defensive line coach Eli Rasheed have turned the Iowa State defensive line into a pillar of consistency and production. Those three coaches have produced back-to-back career sack leaders at ISU and pushed several nose tackles into NFL camps and onto rosters.

But like many things in this 2023 season, there are questions about the defensive line. Cyclones fans will see an entirely new group of starters who hope to continue the success of their predecessors.

More: Iowa State football looks to rebuild its defensive line after roster turnover in trenches

“You have to understand that there are some learning, some growth things that go on in there,” Heacock said, “but I don’t think we change how we coach or the defenses that we call or any of those kinds of things."

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football opens season with 30-9 win over UNI