31Dec/099:05 PM

Iowa State forces late turnover, hangs on for Insight win

By Vince Marotta

After Thursday night’s 14-13 Insight Bowl loss to Iowa State, you kind of get the feeling that the Minnesota Golden Gophers might turn down their next invitation to the annual Tempe bowl game.

Iowa State’s Austen Arnaud ran for a touchdown and threw for another in a 4:12 span of the second quarter, leading the Cyclones to their first bowl victory since 2004, and the first in Paul Rhoads’ tenure as head coach.

Iowa State’s Alexander Robinson and Christopher Lyle celebrate their Insight Bowl win over Minnesota at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. (Photo: Fanster.com)

Minnesota, on the other hand, has now lost three straight Insight Bowls in the last four seasons.

The Golden Gophers look like they were poised to turn around their Insight fortunes, as trailing by one, they drove all the down to the Iowa State 17-yard line with under 4:30 to go. That’s when freshman quarterback MarQueis Gray fumbled and the ball was recovered by ISU’s Ter’ran Benton. The Cyclones took over on their own 24-yard line after Benton’s return, and were able to run out the last 4:04 to earn the win.

Player of the Game: Iowa State running back Alexander Robinson was the man, running for 137 yards on 22 carries against Minnesota. Robinson is from Minneapolis and was recruited by the Gophers before opting to play for the Cyclones.

Insight Bowl Tidbits

Minnesota became the first three time loser in the Insight Bowl, have lost four straight bowl games and are 0-4 in Sun Devil Stadium.
Iowa State is 7-0 when holding opponents to less than 24 points and 0-6 when opponents score more than 24.
Iowa State is 3-7 all-time in bowl games and 2-0 in the Insight Bowl, with their first win coming against Pittsburgh in 2000.
Iowa State beat Minnesota for the first time since 1898 and are 3-22-1 all-time against the Golden Gophers.