Late Buhr Field Goal Lifts Iowa Past Iowa State 16-13 in Cy-Hawk Thriller at Kinnick

Iowa walked off with the Cy-Hawk trophy on Saturday night, edging Iowa State 16-13 on a 42-yard field goal by kicker Caden Buhr with 15 seconds remaining at Kinnick Stadium. The result snaps a two-year skid for the Hawkeyes in the rivalry and delivered the kind of tense, grinding finish the series has produced repeatedly over the past decade.

The night began poorly for the home crowd. Iowa State built a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter, capped by a 7-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Raynor and an earlier field goal by Kyle Konrardy. Raynor finished an inefficient 10-of-19 for 117 yards with no touchdowns, missing on several chances at big plays, but he avoided the kind of turnover that might have swung the game.

Iowa’s response came late in the half. A 56-yard completion to Tony Diaz set up a touchdown run by Hank Brown, and Buhr added a 45-yard field goal just before the break to even the score heading into halftime.

The third quarter belonged to the Cyclones. Another Konrardy field goal — set up by a 34-yard run from Aiden Flora that was undone by holding and illegal-substitution penalties — pushed Iowa State ahead 13-10. Iowa’s offense stalled badly out of the locker room, with its first three second-half drives covering 21, 8, and minus-5 yards as the Cyclones consistently stuffed the run and kept Kamari Moulton in check.

The fourth quarter flipped the field. Iowa’s defense suffocated the Cyclones, holding them to eight total yards until their final possession, while the Hawkeye offense pieced together enough short completions and a late surge from Moulton to position Buhr for the game-winner.

The broadcast angle

The game aired nationally on NBC and Peacock, part of the Big Ten’s media-rights arrangement. NBC’s parent company, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA), saw shares trade at $25.20 on Friday, up 0.6% from the prior close of $25.05, with a market capitalization of roughly $92.5 billion. Comcast’s Media segment, which includes NBC Sports, has leaned on Big Ten football as a marquee property for both linear and streaming audiences since the conference’s latest rights deals took effect. Prime-time rivalry windows like Cy-Hawk are among the programming slots the network has used to showcase the partnership — and to drive Peacock subscriptions alongside traditional broadcasts.

What to watch

• How Iowa’s offense addresses its second-half stagnation as Big Ten play continues.
• Whether Iowa State’s new staff can build on a competitive road performance under a first-year regime.
• Niagara ratings and Peacock streaming figures for the NBC prime-time broadcast, which Comcast reports in upcoming quarterly disclosures.

Source: original release