Peterson: Iowa State must rebound quickly from its embarrassing rushing effort vs. Ohio

ATHENS, Ohio – Say what you want about that Iowa State field-goal attempt toward the end of Saturday’s game against Ohio – the one that refs said wasn’t good yet television replays provided room for disagreement.

The bottom line is that the Cyclones’ 10-7 loss at Peden Stadium left so much room for improvement that you wonder if this 1-2 team can find the remaining five victories it takes to become bowl-eligible.

Not if the offensive line keeps performing like it’s been performing. An average of 1.7 yards an attempt was, well, downright horrible. A total of 38 yards on the ground, to be precise.

The Cyclones averaged 5.0 yards per rush against Northern Iowa, 2.8 yards against Iowa, and Saturday it hit rock bottom.

More: Instant analysis: Iowa State football finds itself in early crisis with loss to Ohio

That starts up front, where new coach Ryan Clanton has used the word “violence” more than once in saying that’s how he wants his guys to play. Again, the violence was in an opponent’s defensive line, not the Cyclones’ up-front guys.

“Lack of physicality. It’s embarrassing,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said after Saturday’s game. “We continue to struggle there right now. That’s an area for us, if we are to take a step forward, that group has got to be a group that steps forward.

“We’ve got too good a players (not) to be able to do it. It’s great to have talent, but you’ve got to want and demand to do it. We’ve got to do a better job, too, in putting them in the best situations."

Campbell doesn’t usually critique that position as much as he did outside the locker room Saturday. His deal is to try to find some kind of positive in almost everything.

Saturday, though, before 21,000 or so fans in the 24,000-seat stadium, and however many more watched on ESPNU, finding offensive line positives was next to impossible. Even quarterback Rocco Becht was sacked for the first time.

“Their line physically got after us,” Campbell said. “I hate to do this, but you look at the last two years, that’s an area where the inconsistencies in our football program − we’ve not taken another step forward.”

No one’s blaming Clanton, let’s get that straight. Ohio, a MAC opponent probably with a chip on its shoulder, was loaded for bear – or in this case, for Cyclone.

“We didn’t come here with the urgency we needed right off the bat,” said Becht, who completed 17 of 24 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown. “We kind of sensed it into the second half. We started to pick it up a little.”

Becht threw (and completed) more longer downfield passes Saturday than he did combined during the first two games. He called a decent game.

More: Inside the numbers of Iowa State's football loss at Ohio on Saturday

Room for improvement in his department, too? Absolutely, but he was not the reason Iowa State lost.

Neither was the food poisoning that ran through the team. Jaylin Noel had it and didn’t play. Running back Cartevious Norton and Becht had it, too, yet played. Linebacker Gerry Vaughn missed his second game because of a deep bruise.

“Weird deal,” Campbell said. “Ran through us the last 48 hours (after landing in Columbus, Ohio). That’s part of sports. That stuff happens.”

The missed 37-yard field goal wasn’t the reason Iowa State lost, either, although it certainly was a topic of postgame conversation.

Good? Not good? Probably depends on your school loyalty, it was that close. And by the way, Campbell acknowledged that something like that is not reviewable.

“Our kicker and our holder both said that it went in,” Campbell said, when reporters inquired. “Whether it did or it didn’t, you put the game in the hands of judgment calls, and that’s tough.”

It’s tough all right. It’s very tough. But the bottom line?

This loss stung. This loss stung with the team, with fans and even in a video that was posted at some point during or after the game, when the emotions of a long day appeared to boil over for Campbell. A man, wearing what looked to be an Iowa State football jersey, hollered at the Cyclones’ eighth-season coach while Campbell accompanied his team to the locker room.

“Hey Campbell,” the man shouted as the head coach and Iowa State players passed. “You’re on the hot seat. You’re on the hot seat.”

Campbell turned around, then immediately was restrained by the Ames-based security officer who regularly travels with the team, and by a few of his players.

Despite what the person in the video was insinuating, Campbell’s job is not in jeopardy.

You think it’s already been a long Iowa State football season? After three non-conference games, you’re right.

Can this team really win more games than last season (which was four) with an offense that’s still going through the learning phase?

I can’t answer that, but something has to change quickly, starting at 3 p.m. Saturday against Oklahoma State at Jack Trice Stadium.

Iowa State now has lost 10 games by three or fewer points since 2019. Two handfuls of games where the three-point margin of a field goal was the difference.

That’s crazy. That’s another reason all position groups must play at high levels at all times. There’s no margin for error.

“Luck and making the ball bounce your way is on us,” Campbell went on. “We didn’t play good enough to win the football game.”

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 51st year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, and on X @RandyPete

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State running game went nowhere at Ohio; ISU needs to fix it fast