Aiden Flora accounts for 5 TDs as Iowa State outlasts West Virginia in a wild 45-42 victory

AMES, Iowa -- — Aiden Flora accounted for five touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 1:57 left, and Iowa State held off West Virginia 45-42 Saturday in a wild game in which the teams combined for over 1,000 yards of offense.

Iowa State (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) came from behind twice in the final 7 1/2 minutes and sealed the victory when Beni Ngoyi forced and recovered a fumble with 59 seconds left.

Flora ran 22 times for 212 yards, both career highs, and three touchdowns. He also threw for two TDs on halfback passes. Not bad for a guy who was a walk-on his first two years in the program.

“The first thing we did here was put him on scholarship and secure he was coming back,” Iowa State first-year coach Jimmy Rogers said. “When others looked to go elsewhere for a bigger opportunity, he stayed true. This place is special to him.

"You can see how he acts toward everybody in the building, how he treats his teammates, and the performance he has. He's a blessing to be around. An awesome, awesome player and an even better person. You can see how much he cares today — getting hard yards, explosive yards and finesse plays in the passing game.”

Iowa State finished with 577 yards of offense and West Virginia with 518. The 1,095 yards were fourth-most in a Bowl Subdivision game this season, and the combined 671 yards were second-most in a second half.

The Mountaineers (3-2, 0-2) scored touchdowns on four straight possessions, taking a 42-38 lead on Michael Hawkins Jr.'s 47-yard pass to DJ Epps with 5:04 left.

The Cyclones then went 74 yards in six plays, with Flora scoring from 2 yards out for the final margin.

“We've got to be able to continuously play cleaner and not get caught up in the score and not relax,” Rogers said. “I don’t want to say we did. We didn’t play cleanly in certain areas on the defensive side of ball. We’re going to work hard to clean some of these things up — maybe it's mental, maybe it's physical — and try to put the best people on the field to execute.”

Flora’s first touchdown pass went for 46 yards and came when he caught a lateral from Jaylen Raynor and threw to a wide-open Cody Jackson.

Flora’s second TD pass came when he took a pitch and flipped the ball 2 yards to Vince Benetti for a 21-14 halftime lead, and he put the Cyclones up two touchdowns early in the third quarter when he burst 24 yards up the middle.

Raynor completed 19 of 27 passes for 264 yards, and Jackson caught six balls for 160 yards.

“Two games in a row, atrocious defense,” West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. “They ran hard and got some good players, but I thought we were fixing some of the issues and it didn’t look like it. We've got to do a better job. Twenty-nine first downs, 577 yards, two game-winning drives. All we needed was a stop. Hard to watch.”

Hawkins ran for two touchdowns and threw for two others. He and Cam Cook had 20 carries apiece, with Hawkins finishing with 149 yards and Cook with 142.

“There's frustration, definitely,” Mountaineers linebacker Cam Torbor said. “We're ready to get back at it. This game’s over. We’re going to come back harder than before.”

The Takeaway

West Virginia: For all their offensive production, the Mountaineers have given up a combined 1,186 yards to Oklahoma State and Iowa State in back-to-back weeks and are last in the Big 12 in total defense at 456.6 per game.

Iowa State: The Cyclones entered the game 16th, and last, in the Big 12 in total offense at 345.3 yards per game. Their total against West Virginia was their highest in a conference game since they amassed 608 against Texas Tech in 2016.

Up next

West Virginia: hosts Arizona next Saturday.

Iowa State: visits No. 10 BYU on Friday.

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