By: Mary Rominger
Despite the concern that circulated the Iowa State locker room on whether Joel Lanning could give a winning performance, the Iowa State Cyclones (3-5, 5th Big 12) triumphed over the Texas Longhorns 24-0.
Lanning, sophomore from Ankeny, was successful in his first start to take the place of former starter– senior Sam Richardson.
Lanning’s physical and mobile style of play gave the Cyclones a much-needed edge over the Longhorns, which came as no surprise to Coach Paul Rhoads.
“I would say that it was very accurate to what I sort of expected to some degree,” Rhoads said. “He is a competitive, competitive kid. He likes the ball in his hands. He stood in there under pressure.”
“He ran for productive yards whether it was scrambles or designed quarterback runs. He took some hits and got up and the team knew who was tough and who was in charge.”
Lanning’s physicality doesn’t just translate well to his coach and Cyclone fans, but also to his teammates.
“Seeing him making plays and throwing his body around just gives you more juice.” said wide receiver Alex Lazard.
Lanning’s running abilities is a big factor in coach Paul Rhoads moving him into the starting spot. Lanning has utilized his unique style of play in the best of ways making everyone that much more confident in Iowa State’s upcoming game against the Oklahoma Sooners.
Texas (3-5, 2-3) had struggled to get anything going and failed to get anything past the Iowa State 47-yard line until the last minutes of the game.
