Football rallies to defeat Iowa State, 31-30

Thursday, October 3

Ames, Iowa

6:30 p.m.

University of Texas

3-2 , 2-0

Iowa State

1-3 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas

Iowa State

10.03.2013 | Football

Box Score

Texas goes on a 75-yard game-winning drive to improve to 2-0 in the Big 12

AMES, Iowa - Case McCoy's 1-yard touchdown run on a quarterback sneak with 51 seconds left lifted Texas over Iowa State, 31-30, Thursday night at Jack Trice Stadium.

McCoy, who went 26 of 45 for 244 passing yards and a touchdown subbing for injured starter David Ash, led Texas (3-2, 2-0) on the game-winning 75-yard drive in a Big 12 Conference contest that featured six lead changes.

Johnathan Gray ran 16 times for 89 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown run. Iowa State's Sam Richardson passed for 262 yards and rushed for another 83, though he was sacked five times. Running back Aaron Wimberly had 117 rushing yards and a touchdown for the Cyclones (1-3, 0-1) who lost for the 10th time in 11 all-time meetings with Texas.

"I'm really proud of our team," said Texas head coach Mack Brown. "One of the trademarks of this team has been comeback wins, especially in games like this. I want to compliment Coach Rhoads and Iowa State on what they've done on Thursday and Friday nights. They have great fans here, they're loud, they stay in the ball game and they never give up on their team. These guys play so hard on Thursday and Friday night."

Trailing 30-24 after the defense forced an ISU field goal, Texas got the ball back with less than four minutes left in the game. With the help of a face mask penalty and two pass interference calls, including one in the end zone, the Longhorns had a first-and-goal with less than 1:30 left.

Gray had two cracks at punching the ball in the end zone from the 2-yard line. He gained 1 yard on the first attempt and appeared to fumble, but he was ruled down and there was no video evidence to change the call. Gray did fumble on the next play, but made the recovery after Jake Knott jarred the ball loose. Then on third-and-goal, McCoy plunged in from 1 yard out.

Iowa State was unable to get in field-goal range on its final possession. The Cyclones moved the ball to the Texas 42, but Cedric Reed deflected a Richardson pass attempt with 13 seconds left and Jackson Jeffcoat picked it off to seal the win.

The teams traded leads throughout the game, but Gray's 45-yard touchdown on the Longhorns' fifth offensive play gave them an early 7-0 lead. The rush was the second longest of his career.

Reed caused James White to fumble on Iowa State's third offensive series, but the Horns were unable to convert that into a touchdown despite taking over at the Cyclones' 16. Anthony Fera's 29-yard field goal gave the Horns a 10-0 lead with 2:27 left in the first quarter.

However, the Cyclones responded in the second quarter with 13 consecutive points. On its fifth drive of the game, Iowa State went 5-for-5 on third downs, including Richardson's 11-yard touchdown pass to Wimderly on third-and-9. Cole Netten hit two field goals in the quarter, one from 37 yards and the other from 41.

Texas took a 17-13 lead on its final drive of the first half. The Longhorns got the ball back on their 25 with only 33 seconds on the clock, but completions to Joe Bergeron (12 yards) and Jaxon Shipley (19 yards) moved the ball to the ISU 44 with four seconds left. On the final play of the first half, McCoy eluded the rush and found John Harris for a 44-yard touchdown on the 'Hail Mary' toss.

Richardson found Quenton Bundrage for a 97-yard touchdown in the middle of the third quarter that gave Iowa State a 20-17 lead.

But Texas responded on the ensuing possession. McCoy and Mike Davis connected on three completions to move the ball to the UT 40. Davis then drew pass interference penalties on the next two plays. Three plays later, Bergeron scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to put the Longhorns ahead 24-20.

But a Bergeron fumble with 12:54 left in the game gave the Cyclones the ball on the Texas 37. Three plays later, Wimberly ran it in from 20 yards to make it 27-24.

The Cyclones had a chance to put the game away late in the fourth, but the UT defense answered the call. The Cyclones had a second-and-1 from the UT 4-yard line, but Wimberly lost 2 yards on a run and then Richardson was rushed and threw incomplete.

Iowa State settled for a Netten 29-yard field goal with 3:40 left to set up the game-winning drive.

Ash missed his second game of the season. He was ruled out of the Iowa State game Friday due to a head injury. The Longhorns were also without starting right tackle Josh Cochran.