Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht said Saturday’s overseas win came down to one thing: trust.
The sophomore pointed to team culture when asked about the Cyclones’ success in close games over the past two seasons.
“I think it’s the culture that we have, the connectedness and the togetherness that we have as a team, and the confidence that we have in one another. There’s never a doubt in the game whenever we’re down, whenever we’re up, that we’re not going to win. I think everybody has a sense of urgency that we’re going to win this game or we’re going to make the big play that needs to be made.”
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Becht credited head coach Matt Campbell for managing the game’s final moments. Campbell chose to run out the clock instead of risking turnovers.
“Credit to coach Campbell of just taking the win, and just kneeling it down and understanding, you know, get the win and get out of here.”
Weather conditions made things difficult early on.
Rain during the first half created grip issues with the football. Becht said the coaching staff adjusted by calling shorter passing plays to help him get comfortable.
“With the rain coming down, it was pretty hard to keep a good grip on it. We did a really good job of putting out plays that were short passes for me to get comfortable in the game.”
The quarterback wasn’t satisfied with the offensive performance despite the win.
“Honestly, I have to do a better job of not letting that happen because I want to win by more than that and not have the defense pull up a bunch of stops. As an offense, like I said, we have to collectively get better and not be in these positions come further in the season.”
Iowa State returns home to face South Dakota next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on Fox.
