Rocco Becht, Abu Sama III lead No. 18 Iowa State past Houston, 20-0

HOUSTON (AP) — Rocco Becht threw for 153 yards and a touchdown, Abu Sama III ran for 101 yards and a touchdown and No. 18 Iowa State beat Houston 20-0 on Saturday night.

Iowa State (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2000, with coach Matt Campbell becoming the school victory leader with 57.

“I feel like culturally we are in a really positive spot,” Campbell said. “I think how we play the game of football has been enjoyable to be a part of, to be quite honest with you, and the leadership from this team … has been the ability to come every day and have real competitive endurance. The ability to keep getting better and growing.”

Houston (1-4, 0-2) fell to 1-4 for the first time since 2004.

“It weighs on everybody,” Houston coach Willie Fritz said. “This is a real tough stretch for me. We’re going to get it going. We’re going to work on it every single week. I’ve got to see the end game and see that progress takes a little bit. I just think we can play better than what we’ve been playing.”

Becht threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Higgins with two minutes left in the third, and Sama ran 77 yards for a score to put it away with 5 1/2 minutes left in the fourth.

“It’s tough to play on the road, it’s tough to win on the road,” Becht said. “No matter what their record is or who they have on their team, winning on the road is hard on the Big 12. We were able to do that tonight with our stout defense. Credit to them, they kept us in the game.”

Becht completed 17 of 28 passes, Higgins had eight catches for 79 yards, Jaylon Jackson ran for 96 yards and Kyle Konrardy made field goals of 23 and 34 yards.

Iowa State last had a shutout Nov. 21, 2020, when it beat Kansas State 45-0. It was the Cyclones’ first road conference shutout since a 24-0 victory at Kansas State on Oct. 16, 1971.

“They were awesome,” Campbell said about the defense. “That group keeps growing, and we are playing a ton of guys. We’re dinged up. We’ve been dinged up, and for me, the most impressive piece of it is those next guys keep stepping up and making really critical plays.”

Donovan Smith was 8 of 12 for 71 yards and an interception for Houston, and Stacy Sneed rushed for 79 yards. The Cougars — coming off a 34-0 loss last week at Cincinnati — were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 17-24, 1994, when they fell 16-0 at home to Missouri and 52-0 at Ohio State.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Iowa State should at least maintain its poll position following the victory.

THE TAKEAWAY

Iowa State: The defense continued to be tough to score on. Iowa State entered ranked ninth nationally allowing 9.7 points per game. … Iowa State was 9 for 17 on third downs.

Houston: The defense continued to perform well, but Houston’s offense has struggled this season. … Houston was 1 of 10 on third downs and committed seven penalties for 77 yards.

UP NEXT

Iowa State: Hosts Baylor on Saturday.

Houston: At TCU on Friday night.

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The Associated Press