Iowa State vs. West Virginia Recap: After Further Review…

I stood in Milan Puskar stadium in West Virginia in the fourth quarter, watching the replay on the video board. 

“Touchdown!” I yelled and put my hands in the air.

Iowa State was losing 38-31 against West Virginia, but had just appeared to score a touchdown as Breece Hall powered his way through to the goal line. I hadn’t even seen the play as I was watching the replay from the play before: A 23-yard scramble by quarterback Brock Purdy to push the ball down to the 2-yard line. I was admiring his vision, toughness and resiliency as he put Iowa State in position to score the game-tying touchdown as the clock ticked toward six minutes left.

Then I watched in confusion as two West Virginia players were running toward the other end of the field, one with the football. The rest of the crowd of both Iowa State and West Virginia fans watched in confusion as well. As everyone was trying to figure out what happened, the referee’s voice came over the loudspeakers to inform us that the “ruling on the field” was a fumble recovered by West Virginia for a touchback, and that the play would be reviewed.

Having not even seen the play, at first I thought that somehow Purdy had fumbled it, which didn’t seem right based on the replay I had just watched. Then I saw the video board as it showed the actual play in question: Hall trying to fight his way into the endzone. It seemed pretty clear to me: Hall’s elbow was down, the ball was in it, and it appeared to be across the goal line. It was a touchdown for Iowa State. We were near the majority of other Iowa State fans in the stadium, most of home cheered appreciatively after seeing the replay. This was clearly going to go our way.

The replay took what felt like forever, and in fact the stadium sound system played two full songs while the play continued to be reviewed, meaning the review took at least five or six minutes. The video board kept showing the few seconds of the play that showed Hall’s elbow hitting the turf with the ball secured in his arm. I sensed even West Virginia fans thought it was a sure thing this play would get overturned. 

“It’s either a touchdown or he was down, but it wasn’t a fumble,” I said confidently to my wife, Paige. 

As the replay review dragged on, I began to wonder what the holdup was. Surely they are just trying to decide if he scored a touchdown or was down before crossing the goal line, I thought. Either way, it was going to be a good outcome for Iowa State. On a day when defending Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Mike Rose was out with an injury, and perhaps as a result the defense had its worst performance in years, Iowa State was going to be tied late in the fourth quarter with a shot to win. This is what it takes to be a championship football team, I thought.

Finally, the ref came back on the sound system. I fully expected him to let us know that “After further review,” it would be a touchdown for Iowa State (or maybe, maybe Iowa State’s ball inside the 1. 

Instead, I heard these words: “After further review, the ruling on the field stands.” 

I yelled at the field. It was inconceivable. 

Earlier in the quarter, I had turned off my phone. I was getting discouraged about the game and reading too many negative reactions via text message and Twitter. I needed to put myself back in the moment and enjoy the game. As soon as I did that, Iowa State drove down the field to seemingly score the touchdown. After the review, I turned my phone back on.

I later described to Paige’s sister, who was with us at the game, that about 75% of the time when I am just sure a call went against us in the stadium, I see the replay later after the game and determine that I was wrong. This was not one of those times. My friends on my text message chain were confirming for me that they saw the same thing I did. I turned my phone off again. I couldn’t take it.

We were sitting in a mostly empty area of the stands, but a little ways away from us were a couple West Virginia fans. “I can’t believe they called that a fumble,” one of them told me.

It was the third questionable call that had gone against Iowa State on the afternoon; all three had resulted in either a West Virginia touchdown or had taken an Iowa State touchdown off the board. It was a potential 21-point swing. No matter how well a team plays (and the Cyclones didn’t play their best game), it is very difficult to overcome that in a Big 12 road game.

The Cyclones could not overcome it on that Saturday in Morgantown. 

I have written multiple times that there could be an entire chapter on this book on Cyclone fans vs. the refs, and Saturday’s game brought back all those helpless feelings of bad calls of yesteryear. It reminded me of seeing Tony Yelk’s potential game-winning field goal called “no good” in the 2001 Independence Bowl. It reminded me of seeing Seneca Wallace called out at the one-yard line against Florida State (“Seneca was in!” most Cyclone fans will still tell you). It reminded me of seeing Kansas’ men’s basketball team hit a three-pointer while Iowa State was at the free throw line for a two-shot foul at Allen Fieldhouse, and benefiting from questionable calls at the end of a 2013 showdown in Hilton Coliseum (more on that next chapter). It reminded me of Texas somehow not getting called for a fumble during a 2013 game at Iowa State that would have sealed the victory for the Cyclones (more on that next chapter as well). It reminding me of the Oklahoma State and Kansas State games in 2017. 

These moments, and many (many) more, have been engrained in me to the point I almost expect them. But they still hurt every time. 

Iowa State could have played better on Saturday. As Cyclone coach Matt Campbell said after the game, the Cyclones should have put themselves in a position not to let the referees control the outcome. 

For me, though, I’ll pretty much never be able to think about the game without some level of wondering “what if” due to the officiating. 

After each West Virginia win at home, the loudspeakers play John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” as Mountaineer fans sing and sway. I’ve seen videos of this, and knew it would be impressive to see in person. I also knew that if I saw it, it would signify an Iowa State loss. I tried to tell myself before the game that if they played Country Roads, I would try to put my disappointment aside and enjoy it. 

As the final play ended and West Virginia players and fan celebrated a 38-31 win, I knew it was coming. After further review, I just didn’t have it in me to stick around. 

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There was one more massive storyline to Saturday’s game. Rose, Iowa State’s star senior linebacker, a first team All-American and Player of the Year in the Big 12 in 2020, was injured. The storyline really began during the Oklahoma State game at Jack Trice Stadium the week prior. Rose had been down on the field during Oklahoma State’s final possession, to an audible gasp from the crowd. We were able to push it to the back of our brains as Iowa State pulled off the win and we celebrated. 

During the week, Campbell seemed confident in telling reporters that he expected Rose to play. That was good enough for me to stop worrying about it.

Other than Rose’s status, I could feel a letdown game within the fan base. There did not seem to be as much chatter on Twitter about the upcoming game as normal (and I have no way of actually measuring that). My text message chain wasn’t nearly as active in talking about Iowa State as it was the week prior. There was no logo or color scheme news to get us talking.

Personally, the day after the Oklahoma State game was miserable in some ways. My mood tends to be more affected by weather than I’d like it to be, and it poured rain all day Sunday. I felt like I was taking a cold shower each time I took my dog for a walk. And what made it even worse was I had looked ahead to the upcoming Saturday’s forecast in Morgantown and saw a rainy day on the horizon. It just felt like the kind of day that could lead to a depressing loss. In Iowa, the rain came back on Wednesday and Thursday; it was just a tough week to keep my energy level up, coupled with a tough game to get truly excited about as a Cyclone fan.

Still, I had plenty to look forward to. Paige’s sister, Gwen, lived in West Virginia about 20 minutes from WVU’s campus with her husband and three children. They were in the process of moving closer to Paige’s childhood home in Colorado, but at that time Gwen and the children were still in West Virginia. It worked out perfectly that we could spend the weekend with them and attend the game together. We made plans to dress up for Halloween on Sunday and trick-or-treat with the kids.

Our flight out of Des Moines was on Friday evening. We boarded the airplane in Des Moines and sat right in front of some Iowa State fans who also informed us they were going to the game. As we got to talking, I learned that their son played for the team and they had gone to more than 30 straight games. (As I wrote this, I had gone to eight straight games; it was highly doubtful I would make it to 30.) They reminded me that there was a Cyclone Alumni Association gathering before the game at a bar called Mountain Mama’s within walking distance of the stadium. One of the somewhat unexpected perks of making out-of-the-way Big 12 road trips was the opportunity for chance encounters like that one, all of which made me feel even more emotionally connected to this team.

We flew into Pittsburgh, where Gwen picked us up for the drive to Morgantown. By the time we got to their home and talked for awhile, it was already well past midnight Eastern time. It was gameday! (Sort of.)

All week, I had watched the weather trying to figure out what would be happening during gametime. On Saturday morning, it looked to me like the rain was likely to hold off until near the fourth quarter. As I was thinking that, it had begun to rain very lightly outside. We decided to make a stop at a sporting good store to search for raincoats. This proved to be a helpful decision. At the store we saw a few people wearing West Virginia gear. 

“I hope you have a great trip until the end of the game,” one man told us. 

We decided to check out Mountain Mama’s for the Iowa State gathering. We quickly discovered we were in the right place as we saw a bar packed full of Cyclone fans. The tailgate had been provided on behalf of the ISU Alumni of Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., which all had members make the trip. I almost immediately ran into one fan I had talked to in Waco who was also attending every game. After a brief conversation, Paige, Gwen, the kids and I ordered food and found a spot outside under a covered area where the kids could have more room to run around. 

A little while later, I walked inside just as Iowa State University Alumni Association President & CEO Jeff Johnson was leading the fans in cheers including “Cyclone! Power!” As the fight song played in the background, he told us we should feel at home in the stadium, which was designed by the same firm that designed Jack Trice Stadium. He also encouraged us to represent Iowa State well.

The rain continued outside and I checked the forecast again. It was now calling for rain throughout the game. 

At about 1 p.m., an hour before kickoff, we put on our extra layers and began the walk to the stadium. Gwen and Paige took turns carrying my nearly two-year-old niece (she was still scared of me as this trip was the first time we had met). 

On the way, I heard one West Virginia fan tell an Iowa State fan “I hope you guys hear Country Roads today.” 

We arrived at the gate where they let us know that we weren’t allowed to take umbrellas into the stadium. Gwen offered to take our three umbrellas back to the car as we headed into the stadium, the rain still coming down. The raincoats had come in handy, for sure.

It felt just like walking into Jack Trice Stadium as we entered and immediately began the trek up the hill toward the back of the bleachers. We had entered on the north side, but our seats were in the southeast corner. As we went through the tunnel into the stands, I looked around. It was remarkably similar to Iowa State’s home stadium.

It was a slow-arriving crowd, and the stadium never did fill up. Even though West Virginia was coming off a win at TCU, I suspected the 0-3 conference start before that coupled with the dreary and wet weather forecast had kept many fans from coming out to this one. There was a solid showing of Iowa State. We took our seats behind the south endzone with the booming video board right behind us. It was loud, and given the hundreds of empty seats in the sections around us, we decided to move a section over and be closer to Iowa State fans and further away from the speakers.

The game kicked off, and West Virginia got the ball first. The Mountaineers picked up a first down but were then forced to punt. On Iowa State’s third offensive play, it felt like a replay from the Kansas State game a couple of weeks prior: Hall broke through and was running free as Cyclone fans cheered; nobody would catch him as he completed a 70-yard run into the endzone to give Iowa State a 7-0 lead. 

West Virginia got the ball back, and my nephews needed to use the restroom, so I took them. In what is seeming to become a trend this season, as I was away from my seat the Mountaineers were moving the ball down the field. I checked my phone and got a message that would quickly change my outlook on the day. My friend James had informed us that Rose was not playing. 

I later saw on Twitter that Rose had apparently warmed up with the team before the game, and then had changed into street clothes. It looked to me like the defense was missing Rose from more than just a talent or X’s and O’s standpoint. Rose was also the leader of the defense and played a position that is in many ways the equivalent as what a quarterback brings to the offense. If the starting quarterback of any team is injured, especially one who was conference player of the year a year ago, I think most fans would expect the offense to struggle. In the case of the Iowa State defense, it struggled as much as it had in recent memory. Whether that was directly tied to Rose’s absence, I would need someone who understands the intricacies of the game better than I do to make that judgement. But my gut told me Iowa State was disproportionately affected by not having Rose on the field, which was probably made worse by the fact that it was seemingly a game-time decision. 

Of course, anyone watching on the ESPN+ broadcast could have been forgiven for not realizing Rose was out. The text messages I was getting from my friends James, Chris and Charles let me know that the broadcast announcers were, in their opinion, not doing a very good job in general, and had failed to mention that Rose was not playing. 

We got back up the stands in time to see West Virginia complete its drive. By this time, Gwen had arrived and luckily it had stopped raining. The good vibes were squelched when West Virginia’s Leddie Brown tied the game at 7-7 with a two-yard touchdown run.  

The teams traded punts, and on Iowa State’s third possession Purdy went back for a pass to begin the drive. He stepped up to throw and I saw Tarique Milton running down the field wide open. Purdy calmly delivered the ball into his hands and Milton ran into the endzone for a 68-yard touchdown. Unlike the week prior, there were no flags for taunting this time.

With Iowa State up 14-7, I was starting to feel like the Cyclones could take control of the game. Instead, the Mountaineers methodically marched down the field as the West Virginia fans became more and more excited. The drive ended with a pass by Jarret Doege to Bryce Ford-Wheaton in the corner of the endzone for a touchdown. Iowa State was in a game at 14-14 and the defense was not performing to its usual standards. 

Iowa State went three-and-out its next possession, and West Virginia gained the lead with a field goal to go up 17-14. West Virginia’s energy level seemed a step above Iowa State’s. My hopes for Iowa State pulling away like it did in the Kansas State game seemed dim. I realized at this point it was everything I had feared before the game. The Cyclones had seemed to come out flat. However, I didn’t know before the game that Rose would be out, which worried me even more. Iowa State’s defense had many times over the past few years given up a good amount of yards and points in the first half before tightening things up. Will they be able to do that today without their leader?

Iowa State’s offense failed to produce on either of its next two drives, but the defense did stop a promising West Virginia drive with a tipped interception by Craig McDonald and thwarted another drive before it started by forcing a three-and-out inside the Mountaineers’ 10-yard line. The Cyclones took the ball with just more than a minute left in the first half and converted a 34-yard field goal by Andrew Mevis. The game was tied at 17-17 at halftime. I felt OK. The Cyclones had weathered the storm and would have a chance to take control when the second half began. 

Unfortunately, Iowa State went three-and-out to start the half. That’s when the first controversial call of the day happened, this one in favor of Iowa State. WVU quarterback Doege threw it deep to Ford-Wheaton. From my view in the southeast corner of the stadium, looking toward the northeast corner of the field, I saw what I thought was a pretty clear shove in the back by Ford-Wheaton on Iowa State’s Kym-Mani King. I yelled for the flag as King fell down and Ford-Wheaton caught the pass. West Virginia fans’ cheers turned to boos as a flag came down. I clapped appreciatively. Later on, I saw some Iowa State fans saying they didn’t think it was a penalty. Since the game was on ESPN+, I didn’t have it recorded and never was able to find a good replay to see for myself. 

On the next play, Iowa State’s Jake Hummel jumped the passing route to make an interception and return it 24 yards to the endzone as I jumped up in celebration. This is the break we needed!

For the third time, West Virginia answered an Iowa State touchdown with one of its own. On a 3rd-and-6 play, Doege found Winston Wright Jr. for 35-yards to the Iowa State 23-yard line. On the next play, Doege threw to the back of the endzone, where Ford-Wheaton jumped up to make an incredible catch for a touchdown. That was close to being out of bounds, I thought. Sure enough, the officiating crew chose to review the play.

A few weeks before the game when it was announced the game would be on the internet-based ESPN+, a lot of Cyclone fans complained. The 1 p.m. Central time zone kickoff was a weird time in and of itself, and it felt like to some that we were being relegated to second-class status by not having the game on ABC, ESPN, or one of the Fox channels. At the time, I didn’t worry too much, knowing, for one thing, I would be at the game, and for another I figured more and more games would eventually be broadcast on internet-based channels in the future (which was already true in men’s and women’s college basketball, for example). The more I read my text messages, the more I realized that not only was the game not on a regular television channel, but ESPN+ had seemed to used the B-team on everything from the camera crew to announcers (again, just based on texts and Twitter, as I didn’t see the broadcast). Sure, it was annoying, but then it became worse: It started to have a potential impact on the game. 

As they showed replay reviews of the touchdown catch in question, there was no conclusive evidence to show whether Ford-Wheaton got a foot down in bounds. Since it was inconclusive, “After further review” the ruling on the field stood as a touchdown. A lot of Iowa State fans, and some impartial observers, disagreed on Twitter. When I watched replays later, I couldn’t tell for sure. If I had to guess, I would have said no catch. It made me wonder if a better broadcast would have had a better camera angle. Regardless, in the minds of Iowa State fans, it felt like a questionable way to give up seven points. 

Iowa State responded with a touchdown of its own after Hall broke free for a 53-yard run to the West Virginia 4-yard line and Purdy complete the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Iowa State was back up 31-24. West Virginia again answered Iowa State’s fourth touchdown of the day with its own touchdown drive. The Mountaineers took 12 plays and converted two third downs before facing 4th-and-3 from the 22. Doege found Wright over the middle for a touchdown. After further review, as my text message friends pointed out, the play clock had hit :00 well before the ball was snapped. The play should have resulted in a 5-yard penalty, which would have made it 4th-and-8, a much tougher play to convert. That didn’t excuse the Iowa State defense for giving up a touchdown, but it again stoked the feeling of having gotten a bad break from the people in stripes. It was now 31-31, and 14 of West Virginia’s points had come in controversial fashion. 

The fans were now fully in the game. “Let’s Go!” chanted the east side of the stadium. “Mountaineers” the west side answered. It was similar to Iowa State’s “Cyclone! Power!” chant, except it went on for what felt like three minutes. I noticed one of my nephews, who had no affiliation to either team, getting into the chant. Even though I was upset about the game itself, I couldn’t help but appreciate the pull that college football has on people. 

Iowa State was forced to punt on its next possession, and West Virginia had no trouble marching down the field for 85 yards in six plays. The key play was a 45-yard pass from Doege to Ford-Wheaton.

“My gosh. They have just picked apart our secondary all day,” I said to Paige.

On 2nd-and-goal from the 6, Iowa State’s T.J. Tampa got called on a pass interference penalty in the back of the endzone. It was the kind of play I would have loved to see a replay of, but I didn’t get it. Brown scored on the next play to give West Virginia a 38-31 lead.

At this point, I shut off my phone. There was too much negative energy coming from it, which was matching my energy as a light rain had returned and the Cyclones were losing.

With just more than nine minutes left, Iowa State answered with an important drive. The Cyclones moved the ball to midfield with gains of seven, nine, eight and eight again. Purdy, facing pressure, then scrambled for a 22-yard gain, and two plays later ran for 23 yards down to the West Virginia 2. I was still admiring his run as they showed the replay on the video board when the now-infamous fumble by Hall gave the ball back to West Virginia. Earlier, I wondered about whether the lack of good camera angles had hurt Iowa State. This time, I’m not sure what angle the refs needed to see to overturn the play. It seemed like a pretty clear touchdown to me, and seemingly everyone else watching. In one of the biggest moments of the season, a crucial call had gone against the Cyclones. I felt sick as I thought of the post-game conversation if West Virginia was to hold on for the win. 

The Cyclones would get one more chance at it, taking the ball on their own 16 with 3:42 remaining. In a few minutes, I will either hear Country Roads or be celebrating a memorable comeback, I thought. I wanted the comeback badly. 

Iowa State again moved the ball, but time ticked down. Hall extended the game with a run of 8 yards on 4th-and-1. Maybe this is going to be a special drive! A couple plays later, Purdy was sacked to bring up a 3rd-and-15. On the next play, he again scrambled and appeared to be very close to the first down. The ref marked him a yard short (after further review, I thought the officials should have reviewed the play, and judging by Campbell’s reaction on the sideline, so did he), and in the ensuing seconds the clock continued to tick as Iowa State lined up for another 4th-and-1 play. Instead, a Cyclone lineman moved early for a false start. In addition to losing five yards, 10 seconds were taken off the clock. There were now only four seconds left, meaning Iowa State would have one more play to score from the 30. Had they reviewed the play, the clock would have stopped with around 40 seconds left and allowed Iowa State plenty of time to run its normal offense and try to score. Instead, it would now take something miraculous. 

West Virginia took a timeout as I stood nervously. The best games are the most unexpected, I thought hopefully. Just maybe the Cyclones could find a way to score. Purdy took the snap and waited for his receivers to get to the endzone before heaving a Hail Mary pass. The play was in the opposite endzone from the one we were sitting behind, and I couldn’t tell what happened. All I knew was the roar I heard from West Virginia fans as their team ran onto the field in celebration. The Mountaineers had pulled the upset. 

As we walked out, listening to Country Roads in the background, one fan saw my red stocking cap and said “Good game.” We made our way toward the exits and I finally turned my phone back on. I had a message from my friend Jason, who had shaved his mustache after Iowa State’s loss. I had a message from my friend Adam who lives in Waco. I had several messages from my normal text chain. I asked them all whether the fumble call was as bad as I thought. They all assured me it was.

Right outside the stadium, some tailgaters were playing “Sweet Caroline.” This does feel like home. Except in the part where we’d normally sing “Bah! Bah! Bah!,” West Virginia fans answered with less appropriate insult toward their rivals to the north: “Eat ---- Pitt!”

“I think they dislike Pitt more than we dislike Iowa,” I said to Paige. 

Throughout the evening, my text message chain discussed the ramifications of the game. My friend Chris compared it to Iowa State’s loss to UAB in men’s basketball in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. At first blush, that may seem dramatic, but in the context of a college football season, and a team fighting for a conference championship, there are some similarities. For one, I felt like Iowa State would have won each of those games 80% of the time, but in a one-game scenario the 20% option happened. The days surrounding both games felt similar; as that 2015 game was one of the first games in the entire tournament to tip off; there was a sleepy atmosphere that I could feel even through the television. Similarly, the football game against West Virginia was a rainy and overcast early afternoon game on an obscure television feed (ESPN+) in a stadium that was a little over half full; a sleepy atmosphere in its own right (at least until the WVU fans realized their team had a chance to win). 

More importantly, each game was critical for the Cyclones to win to reach their goals (or at least the goals most fans had for the teams). For the basketball team, the dream of reaching the Final Four was gone. For the football team, the dream to reaching the Big 12 championship game felt like it was over. And both happened not in a high-profile matchup, but in upset fashion. They were both games where few people seemed to consider the possibility of the Cyclones losing.

Except, there’s one big difference.

After further review, Iowa State’s Big 12 title hopes in the 2021 football season are not completely out the window. If the Cyclones win out, they will very likely be in the championship game (assuming tie-breakers scenarios work out correctly). Iowa State will need to win four games in a row, including a game at top 5-ranked Oklahoma, to make it a reality. The odds are against the Cyclones, but there’s still a chance. Oddly, I still like this team’s chances to pull off something special.

Even if it doesn’t happen, the Cyclones still have the opportunity to end the season on a high note. There are still big games left to play and big wins on the table. After further review, there are still memories to be made.