Not winning in the margins has defined the Cy-Hawk series in head coach Matt Campbell’s tenure in Ames and the self-inflicted wounds continued to plague Iowa State on Saturday afternoon.

Iowa took advantage of three second half interceptions from Brock Purdy and a fumble from Breece hall to roll to a 27-17 victory at Jack Trice Stadium. Of those 27 points, 20 came by way of turnover for the visiting team.

After scoring late in the first half to cut the Iowa lead to 14-10, regaining some momentum heading in the locker room and opening the third with possession, ISU’s offense stalled.

Things would get progressively worse from there. Iowa turned a Breece Hall fumble into an easy six-yard return for touchdown from Jack Campbell.

Just two offensive plays later, Purdy threw the first of his three interceptions of the half as he targeted Xavier Hutchinson downfield and was picked by Seth Benson.

The Hawkeyes later added a 51-yard field goal off the foot of Caleb Shudak. All this came in spite of the offense, which mustered negative-six yards in the quarter, a remarkable feat in and of itself.

The veteran fourth-year starter Purdy was benched for backup Hunter Dekkers early in the fourth quarter following his final pick and finished with just 138 yards on 13-of-27 completions. Dekkers acquitted himself well in a tough situation, completing 11-of-16 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.

For the second consecutive game to open 2021, the Cyclones’ Heisman Trophy candidate Breece Hall was taken out of the occasion by an opposing defense. The junior rushed for just 69 and one touchdown on 16 carries, which was good for a 4.3-yard average.

ISU’s defense held the Hawks to just 173 yards of total offense and to 67 rushing on 39 attempts.

Mike Rose, Jake Hummel and Zach Petersen each led the way with seven tackles for the Cyclones. The defensive end Petersen also added two tackles-for-loss and a half-sack. Will McDonald led the team with 1.5 sacks.

Iowa State will wrap up the non-conference slate next Saturday night at UNLV, before opening Big 12 play on the road at Baylor on September 25th.