AMES — Once he crosses the goal line or hauls in a pass in the end zone, Iowa State wide receiver Brett Eskildsen tries to be impulsive when deciding his touchdown celebrations.
He sheepishly admitted, though, that sometimes, he comes in with a plan. That’s what happened when he hit the griddy in his first multi-touchdown performance in the Cyclones’ 38-14 win over visiting Kansas on Nov. 22.
Eskildsen busted a move on an impressive fourth-and-1 play, when quarterback Rocco Becht opted to zip a 20-yard dart towards his way in the end zone, rather than go for safe yardage to keep the drive alive.
“Just having fun with it, my little sister likes when I dance and she thinks it’s funny, so I kind of shout out her too,” Eskildsen said.
His sister isn’t the only one relishing in the celebrations. If Eskildsen is dancing on a game day, that likely means a big play or touchdown is being applauded by Cyclones’ fans.
It also may indicate that things are going well on the Iowa State passing front.
Iowa State continued to bulldoze the opposition with its rushing attack, but after a series of shaky passing performances over the last month, the Cyclones were able to rediscover success through the air against the Jayhawks.
Injuries played a part during the rough stretch, particularly for Becht, and there were some mistakes and miscommunications between quarterback and wide receivers. But Saturday felt like a true return to form for the Cyclones. They resembled what they looked like during the 5-0 start to the season.
“You can look at stats sometimes and say, ‘What are you not doing well?’ but when you actually look at the big picture, you say, ‘OK, we’re doing a lot of things really good, what should we be doing more of and how do we continue to take what we’re doing well?'” Cyclones coach Matt Campbell said. “And let’s simplify things and kind of get ourselves back to being our best, and I do think that’s helped us again.”
During the bye and the week of practice leading into the Kansas game, Iowa State put plenty of work into reviving confidence in the passing game.
Becht and his receivers were able to break themselves out of a rut.
The Cyclones’ running game excelled once again, which helped relieve some of the pressure and opened up things for the passing attack. Iowa State found a rhythm through the air early and maintained it throughout to supplement another effective day on the ground.
Becht completed 10-straight passes to start the game, finishing with 18-of-23 for 241 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. His 78.3% completion rate was his highest for the season against an FBS opponent.
He didn’t share the ailment he is playing through, but he showed a more familiar version of himself against the Jayhawks. He was confident in the pocket and on target with most of his throws.
Eskildsen had a team-high six receptions for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Ben Brahmer had three receptions for 34 yards and a touchdown. Chase Sowell chipped in two receptions for 60 yards.
“It’s special to have one of those (kinds of games) when we haven’t had one in a while,” Becht said. “When you’re losing confidence, when you’re losing trust in each other, to have back-to-back wins and to have a game where you’re consistently working, dominating up front or dominating in the pass game, you’re going to gain that confidence back and that’s what we were able to do today.”
With the Cyclones clicking offensively on the ground and through the air, they put together an impressive offensive display in the final home game of 2025.
Iowa State posted 462 total yards in a balanced effort and only punted once in a turnover-free outing. The Cyclones scored on six of their eight possessions, five of them were touchdowns.
It also shook off some of its past third-down and red zone struggles. The Cyclones were successful on 9-of-16 third-down conversions, and they scored in four out of five trips to the red zone. Their lone unsuccessful trip was when Iowa State was forced to go for it on fourth down, instead of attempting a field goal that would have been in Kyle Konrardy’s range had it not been for strong winds.
“We’re always striving to be a mentally tough team,” senior offensive lineman James Neal said. “Today, it really showed, playing through all four quarters. It even showed in previous weeks, we had struggles, but we were able to come back and win these past two.”
With renewed confidence and rebuilt momentum, Iowa State (7-4, 4-4 Big 12 Conference) will head to Oklahoma State, the Big 12’s last-place team, for the regular-season finale on Nov. 29.
Although it will be a step down from last year’s historic run, the Cyclones still have a chance to finish with nine wins. It’s a mark that has only been reached four times throughout Iowa State’s 134-year history.
“Let’s not make a mistake, we played a really good rhythm early in the season when we were healthy and click on all cylinders, and so I think we had to work through the mud a little bit of some health and where we were, to kind of seeing us coming out of it again,” Campbell said. “I don’t think it’s playcalling or this or that, I just think it’s just the ebbs and flows of the season.
“… (Becht) is tough, he is gritty, and if you look at every game we play, that guy’s giving us a great chance to win the football game. I just think, how do we continue to serve him the right way and build the people up around him? I thought those guys really grew today, so that was awesome.”
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football returns to form on offense, throttles Kansas
Reporting by Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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