Iowa State is National Team of the Week

October 17, 2018 by Courtesy FWAA

The Iowa State Cyclones limited No. 6 West Virginia’s high-powered offense to just 152 total yards, recording seven sacks for a second consecutive week in a 30-14 win in Ames. For holding the Mountaineers to their lowest offensive output since 2000, the Cyclones (3-3) moved past an impressive list of worthy candidates to earn National Team of the Week honors for games held during the college football week of Oct. 9-13.

The award is sponsored this season by Reveal Suits.

This is the sixth time for Iowa State to earn the honor, which dates to the 2002 season. The FWAA's All-America Committee selects the weekly winner and all Division I FBS and FCS schools are eligible to be selected.rst since 2015. All three have come as a result of wins against Oklahoma.

The defensive statistics were outstanding for ISU against an offense averaging 41.4 points and 526.8 yards per game. The seven sacks tied a school record, and ISU now has 20 sacks on the season from 14 different players. But the offense had some upstarts as well. In his first career start, freshman Brock Purdy finished 18-of-25 for 254 yards and three touchdowns. David Montgomery rushed for a career-best 189 yards on a career-high 29 carries and scored one touchdown just a week after missing his first career game due to injury. The Cyclones' 244 rushing yards were a season high.

"Multiplicity was the key tonight and the ability to be multiple throughout the football game. Our defensive staff did a great job at having a plan to constantly switch up the looks and be as multiple as we could," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. "This group has really gotten better every week. It will be interesting to see this groups choice; they have a big decision to make on where we go from here and what is our story."

Iowa State is 6-0 in October the last two seasons, with four wins against ranked opponents. Three of those four ranked opponents – Oklahoma and TCU in 2017, and West Virginia in 2018 – were unbeaten going into the game. Including last week's 48-42 win at Oklahoma State, the Cyclones have defeated ranked opponents in consecutive weeks for the first time in school history.

The other National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend of October 9/13 were:

LSU (6-1): In another impressive defensive effort, the No. 13 Tigers contained No. 2 Georgia’s powerful offense to 322 yards in a 36-16 home win, only giving up 36 rushing yards in the second half while expanding its 16-0 halftime lead. LSU had 475 total yards, was plus-four in turnover margin and converted 4-of-4 fourth downs. Senior kicker Cole Tracy converted all five field goal attempts and his 18 kicking points (with three PAT’s) set an LSU record (since 1949).

Michigan State (4-2): The Spartans scored on Brian Lewerke’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Felton Davis with 29 second left for a 21-17 win at No. 8 Penn State. It’s the second consecutive season that MSU has won in the final minutes to hand Penn State back-to-back losses behind an Ohio State loss. Lewerke finished with 259 passing yards and two touchdowns. MSU has now won five of the last six games against PSU, and is 10-5 in its last 15 games against AP Top-10 teams.

Oregon (5-1): Running back C.J Verdell topped off his 100-yard rushing day with a six-yard sprint to the end zone in overtime as No. 17 Oregon knocked off No. 7 Washington, 30-27. The Huskies missed a game-winning field goal at the end of regulation but was good on a second try after stalling inside the Oregon 10 in overtime. The Ducks converted a third-and-11 on their ensuing possession, setting up Verdell’s game-winning score on third-and-goal.

Tennessee (3-3): The Volunteers snapped an 11-game SEC losing streak with a 30-24 win at No. 21 Auburn. Jarrett Guarantano passed for a career-high 328 yards and two touchdowns, and Tennessee’s defense forced three turnovers, returning one of them for a touchdown. This was coach Jeremy Pruitt’s first SEC win at Tennessee and marked the Vols’ first road win over a ranked Auburn team since 1980.