AMES – Saturday’s game is exactly what Iowa State football needed prior to playing one of its most arduous games of the season in Week 2.

The Cyclone’s 21-3 victory on Saturday afternoon at Jack Trice Stadium over North Dakota provided minimal excitement for a sold-out crowd in Ames, but Cyclone fans aren’t walking across the bridge back to their cars miserable after watching the Cyclone improve to 1-0 on the 2024 season.

Rocco Becht completed a 54-yard pass on the first play of the game to All-Big 12 receiver Jaylin Noel, who hauled in the pass by pinning it against a Fighting Hawk defensive back’s number. The next play was a 21-yard score to Jayden Higgins in the corner of the end zone. Just two plays into the 2024 season, Iowa State’s offense looked like the Greatest Show on Turf, well, grass to better align with the Mid-American Energy playing surface.

“I knew I had Jaylin on the post,” quarterback Rocco Becht said of the first play from scrimmage. “As long as that safety gave me enough time to let it loose and put a ball out there for him, I was going to do it.”

That two-play sequence, though, was truly the only exciting moment at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Cyclones did score two more touchdowns in the victory, including a Becht QB sneak to put the game out of reach in the second half. But North Dakota’s 23-play, 88-yard drive at the conclusion of the first quarter about 12 minutes of the second quarter was a drain on the energy for the Cyclone crowd.

PFF GRADES: Iowa State defense in 21-3 victory vs. North Dakota

PFF grades from Iowa State’s 21-3 win over North Dakota on Saturday

Iowa State football started the season 1-0 on Saturday with a 21-3 win over North Dakota, providing plenty of takeaways from the Cyclone victory, including a necessary challenge to open the season and potentially explosive offense through the air.

Below are the Pro Football Focus grades for the Iowa State defense from the season-opening victory: