Ames, IA –Iowa State came out of the tunnel firing on all cylinders and didn’t let their foot of the gas at all. Southeast Missouri didn’t see this Cyclone coming.
Quarterback Hunter Dekkers made his first start, threw four touchdown passes – three to Xavier Hutchinson – and Iowa State throttled Southeast Missouri 42-10 Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.
Hutchinson, a redshirt senior, became the first ISU player to catch three touchdown passes in a game since Quenton Bundrage against Iowa in 2013. He wound up with eight catches for 128 yards for the contest.
Dekkers, who was a backup last year, connected on his first seven passes and finished the game 25-of-31 for 293 yards with one pick. He threw two 33-yard touchdown passes to Hutchinson, found Hutchinson for an 8-yard score and darte a 9-yard TD pass to tight end DeShawn Hanika – his first career reception.
Southeast Missouri drove the ball deep into ISU territory on its first possession before linebacker Colby Reeder tipped a pass and Tyler Onyedim picked it off, giving the Cyclones the ball at its own 15 yard line.
A few plays later, Dekkers hit Hutchinson on a crossing route for a 33-yard touchdown. On the Cyclones’ next possession, Dekkers hooked up with again Hutchinson down the seam for another 33-yard TD and a 14-0 lead.
The Cyclones had three touchdowns in three possessions when Dekkers tossed an 8-yard pass to Hutchinson on a crossing route.
Paxton DeLaurent’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Damoriea Vick and a 23-yard field goal drew SEMO to 21-10 at the break, but ISU dominated the second half and never looked back.
The Cyclones scored three more times in the second half with ease, including once in the third and twice in the fourth quarter to finish off its season-opening victory.
Paxton DeLaurent threw for 222 yards and a touchdown and ran for 74 yards in the lost.
DeLaurent completed 50 percent of his passes, while Flournoy led SEMO with 56 yards on nine receptions. Vick added 45 receiving yards for the game.
Running back Jirehl Brock, the backup to Breece Hall the last two years, also had a big day, rushing for a career-high 104 yards on 16 carries and punching it in for a score.
As a team, the Redhawks finished the game with 320 yards of total offense to ISU’s 469.
Dekkers hit Hanika on a short crossing route to make it 28-10 and Brock scored on a 1-yard run after a nifty 23-yard scamper on which he broke two tackles and juked another defender. Brock put up his solid numbers after carrying only three times for 5 yards in the first half.
Deon Silas punched it in from the 1 for a TD with 6:06 left remaining to complete the scoring for ISU.
The ISU defense solidified in the second half, holding the Redhawks to 74 yards after giving up 246 in the first two quarters.
Defensively, SEMO defensive back Lawrence Johnson matched a career-high with 12 tackles.
With the win, coach Matt Campbell broke a tie with Clay Stapleton for second place in career wins by an ISU coach with 42. Dan McCarney is the leader with 56 victories. Campbell’s .558 winning percentage is the best among all ISU coaches since the Big Six was formed in 1928.
