Iowa State loses 10-7 to Ohio after controversial missed field goal call

Did Iowa State actually score 10 points against Ohio?

The Bobcats beat Iowa State, 10-7, Saturday in a game that featured a questionable missed field goal call on kicker Chase Contreraz’s second miss of the game.

After missing a 47-yard kick in the first half, Contreraz lined up for a 37-yard kick halfway through the fourth quarter with the Cyclones trailing the Bobcats, 10-0. But the kick was ruled no good as it sailed over the right upright.

Take a look.

Did the ball actually go in? The replay from underneath the crossbar makes it seem like the kick was inside the uprights, though it’s imperative to note the camera angle could be creating an optical illusion.

Iowa State didn’t have the opportunity to challenge the call either. According to the NCAA rule book, “if the ball is higher than the top of the uprights as it crosses the end line, the play may not be reviewed.”

There’s also no language in the rule book that directly addresses a kick going over the uprights — a curious omission given how often kicks fly higher than the uprights. All the rule book says regarding a made field goal is that it must go “between” the uprights and that “the crossbar and uprights are treated as a line, not a plane, in determining forward progress of the ball.”

Iowa State scored on its next possession after that missed kick to cut Ohio’s lead to three, but QB Rocco Becht was picked off with 2:13 to go as the Cyclones had one last chance to tie or take the lead.

The win is Ohio’s first over a Power Five opponent since beating Kansas at home in 2017. The loss drops Iowa State to 1-2 after the Cyclones lost to Iowa at home in Week 2.