Iowa State Beats West Virginia 45-42 on Flora's Five Touchdowns

Iowa State rallied twice in the final 7 1/2 minutes to defeat West Virginia 45-42 on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Ames, Iowa, as Aiden Flora accounted for five touchdowns and delivered the decisive score with 1:57 remaining. The teams combined for 1,095 yards of offense in a high-scoring Big 12 contest.

The Cyclones (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) secured the victory when Beni Ngoyi forced and recovered a fumble with 59 seconds remaining. Iowa State finished with 577 yards of offense, while the Mountaineers (3-2, 0-2) recorded 518, according to the game recap published by ESPN.

Flora rushed 22 times for career highs of 212 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw two touchdown passes on halfback plays, helping Iowa State overcome a late West Virginia lead despite entering the game with limited experience after beginning his first two seasons in the program as a walk-on.

Iowa State first-year coach Jimmy Rogers praised Flora's commitment to the program and his performance against West Virginia.

"The first thing we did here was put him on scholarship and secure he was coming back," Rogers said. "When others looked to go elsewhere for a bigger opportunity, he stayed true. This place is special to him.

"You can see how he acts toward everybody in the building, how he treats his teammates, and the performance he has. He's a blessing to be around. An awesome, awesome player and an even better person. You can see how much he cares today — getting hard yards, explosive yards and finesse plays in the passing game."

Flora's first touchdown pass covered 46 yards after he caught a lateral from Jaylen Raynor and found Cody Jackson open downfield. His second scoring pass came on a pitch-and-flip play to Vince Benetti from 2 yards out, giving Iowa State a 21-14 halftime advantage.

Flora extended the Cyclones' lead early in the third quarter with a 24-yard run. Raynor completed 19 of 27 passes for 264 yards, while Jackson caught six passes for 160 yards.

West Virginia responded with touchdowns on four consecutive possessions, taking a 42-38 lead when Michael Hawkins Jr. connected with DJ Epps on a 47-yard touchdown pass with 5:04 remaining. Iowa State answered with a six-play, 74-yard drive, capped by Flora's 2-yard touchdown run with 1:57 left.

Rogers acknowledged that his team needed to improve its defensive execution despite the win.

"We've got to be able to continuously play cleaner and not get caught up in the score and not relax," Rogers said. "I don't want to say we did. We didn't play cleanly in certain areas on the defensive side of ball. We're going to work hard to clean some of these things up — maybe it's mental, maybe it's physical — and try to put the best people on the field to execute."

The combined 1,095 yards ranked fourth among Football Bowl Subdivision games that season, while the teams' 671 combined second-half yards ranked second in that category, according to ESPN's recap.

West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez criticized his defense after another game in which the Mountaineers struggled to stop an opponent. The team had surrendered a combined 1,186 yards against Oklahoma State and Iowa State over two consecutive weeks and ranked last in the Big 12 in total defense, allowing 456.6 yards per game.

"Two games in a row, atrocious defense," Rodriguez said. "They ran hard and got some good players, but I thought we were fixing some of the issues and it didn't look like it. We've got to do a better job.

Twenty-nine first downs, 577 yards, two game-winning drives. All we needed was a stop. Hard to watch."

Hawkins accounted for four touchdowns, running for two and throwing for two. He carried the ball 20 times for 149 yards, while Cam Cook also had 20 carries and finished with 142 yards.

West Virginia linebacker Cam Torbor expressed frustration but said the team was ready to move forward after the defeat.

"There's frustration, definitely," Torbor said. "We're ready to get back at it. This game's over. We're going to come back harder than before."

Before the matchup, Iowa State ranked last in the Big 12 in total offense at 345.3 yards per game. Its 577-yard performance against West Virginia marked the Cyclones' highest offensive total in a conference game since they gained 608 yards against Texas Tech in 2016.

West Virginia was scheduled to host Arizona the following Saturday, while Iowa State was set to visit No. 10 BYU on Friday.