Game Balls

James Sims carried the ball 21 times for 114 yards. He had 15 carries and 96 yards in the first half, often turning no hole into a few yards by carrying a pile on his back. He also caught three passes for 17 yards.

Dexter McDonald leaned back and reached for the sky to make a terrific pick in the second quarter.

Gassers

Josh Ford missed the block that could have freed Christian Matthews for a first down on a fourth-and-four play run out of an empty backfield. Iowa State took over on downs and quickly broke scoreless tie with 58-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter.

Montell Cozart for stepping out of bounds one yard short of first-down marker instead of one yard past it, setting up fourth-and-1 that led to turn over on downs in second quarter. Cozart compoleted just 4 of 12 passes for 20 yards and an interception. On the rare occasions KU receivers sprung open, Cozart tended to overthrow them.