Cyclones.com – Breece Hall ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns, Brock Purdy accounted for two scores and No. 12 Iowa State grinded out a 34-17 victory over No. Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday.
The Cyclones (9-3, CFP 10) used their ball-control offense to dominate the time of possession and keep Oregon’s offense off the field for long stretches to win their first New Year’s Six bowl.
Hall, an AP All-American, had 34 carries and his ninth 100-yard game this season. Purdy, who went to high school in nearby Gilbert, threw for 156 yards and a touchdown on 20-of-29 passing, adding a touchdown on the ground.
Iowa State had a time of possession advantage of more than 25 minutes.
Oregon (4-3, CFP 25) alternated between Tyler Shough and Anthony Brown at quarterback, but couldn’t sustain anything on offense and was plagued by numerous mistakes.
The Ducks lost two fumbles, an interception and a pooch kick. They also turned it over when a punt hit a blocker’s helmet and had a touchdown wiped out by a penalty.
The Cyclones had been building toward this moment.
Iowa State won three games its first season under Matt Campbell before playing in three straight bowl games. The Cyclones earned their first New Year’s Six bowl with the best regular season in school history.
Iowa State took a methodical offensive approach in the Fiesta Bowl, scoring its first two touchdowns on drives of 14 and 15 plays. Hall scored for the 12th straight game on a 1-yard run and Charlie Kolar caught a 14-yard TD pass from Purdy.
The Cyclones were stuffed on a fourth-and-goal from the 1 in the second quarter, but went right back to marching on Oregon’s defense.
Purdy scored on a 1-yard run and Hall made it 28-14 with a 1-yard run after Iowa State recovered a pooch kick.
The Cyclones bogged down in the second half, settling for two field goals by Connor Assalley, but their defense shut down Oregon.
The Ducks were a replacement in the Pac-12 championship game after Washington pulled out and beat Southern California for their second straight title.
Oregon had some early offensive success against the Cyclones, scoring on touchdown runs of 6 and 16 yards by Brown. The Ducks had a 27-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Mycah Pittman wiped out by a holding penalty, settling for a field goal instead.
Shough returned for several plays in the second half, but he nor Brown could get much going. Oregon had 88 yards of offense in the second half and Shough’s pass was intercepted by Mike Rose late in the fourth quarter.
Hall is a sophomore and will be back and Purdy is a junior, so he still has a year of eligibility left. Iowa State will have to replace several key players on defense, but Rose is just a junior.
