Walk-on Caden Matson's special teams touchdown lifts No. 16 Iowa to 43-21 win over Baylor – CycloneFanatic.com

Oct. 5, 2024; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell celebrates with defensive back Caden Matson (43) during their game against the Baylor Bears at Jack Trice Stadium. Mandatory attribution: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

AMES – Iowa State walk-on defensive lineman Caden Matson watched the football spin, then gave chase and zeroed in on it when, against all odds, it bounced straight into his back pocket.

The HUmboldt native's first career stalled punt recovery with a touchdown hanging in the balance Saturday night against Baylor, and two words came to mind at the crucial moment: “Oh God.”

“It kind of bounced and caught — it sat right there,” said Matson, whose subsequent 25-yard jaunt into the end zone in the No. 43-21 first-half victory. “It was supposed to be kind of like that, a little bit, so it was cool.”

Also refreshing.

ISU — which is 5-0 for the first time in 44 years — trailed 14-12 at the time.

Reserve defensive end Myles Mendeszoon past obstacles to block the punt. Matson, a former Humboldt star, did the rest, giving the Cyclones their first blocked punt recovery for a touchdown since 2004 when LaMarcus Hicks picked up Ellis Hobbs' deflection and scored.

It also gave ISU its second game-changing special teams game of the season, joining the walk-on kickers Kyle Konrardy's game-winning 53-yard field goal in a 20-19 win at then-No. 1 21 Iowa.

“The 'who' is even more rewarding,” Cyclones head coach said Matt Campbellwhose team endured a spate of injuries during the game. “Caden Matson was just a fighter, so to speak, for this program and a kid that kept showing up. (He) obviously gets the touchdown, but we felt like there might be an opportunity in the game to get a shot (on a punt block).”

The results of this “shot” served as a spark for the ISU quarterback Rocco Bechtwho completed 16 of 25 passes for 277 yards, two touchdowns and a costly interception at Baylor's goal line with 27 seconds left in the first half. Thirteen of these completions were received Jayden Higgins And Jaylin Noelwho combined for 214 yards. Higgins also secured an 11-yard jump-ball touchdown toss from Becht that essentially sealed the win late in the third quarter. Higgins extended his program record for consecutive games with a touchdown catch to seven – and surpassed 100 receiving yards for the first time this season.

“There are some people who are just human erasers,” Becht said of Higgins. “And (he) is a human eraser show. Whenever the ball is in the air he will either get it or it will be a PI. If we just keep getting this guy the ball, we’re going to keep winning games.”

The same applies to transfer congestion Jaylon Jacksonwho converted 15 carries into an ISU career-high 170 yards and two touchdowns. Carson Hansen added 97 yards on the ground to the Cyclones' season-high 265, with his team averaging a staggering 7.7 yards per play.

“The other running backs kind of messed with me a little bit (because) I hadn’t scored a touchdown yet,” said the 5-7, 180-pound Jackson, who has completed 50-yard runs against opponents in two straight games. “I told them I wanted to be here in an environment like this.”

A sellout, white-clad crowd of 61,500 provided that atmosphere, and ISU responded – despite a few early errors – to record its most lopsided series victory over the Bears since 2001. The Cyclones' offense topped 500 yards in one game for the first time in three years and the defense held Baylor scoreless in the final 17 minutes of the game.

“I appreciate our team not panicking when it was maybe a little bit, maybe not the start that we probably want in the football game,” Campbell said. “Our children understood that we had to play for 60 minutes.”

Cornerback Jontez Williams added another highlight with a touchdown-saving interception in the end zone. ISU's offense resulted in nine plays of 20 or more yards, but special teams play spurred the Cyclones the most after they fell behind early 14-3.

“Special teams is crucial to the character of your team in a lot of ways, right?” said Campbell, whose team will play surging West Virginia (3-2, 2-0) next Saturday in Morgantown. “I know we talked a lot before the season started: 'What makes this team unique?' At least so far there has been a lot of buy-in from the top to the bottom of the squad.”

Matson knows where he stands in this pecking order – and that’s not a problem for him. Actually thrilled.

“Everyone just puts their heads down and grins,” he said. “It literally doesn’t matter who it is. It's not that we're treated differently or anything. We just go out there and implement the way we’ve been trained.”