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AMES, Iowa - Iowa State junior running back David Montgomery has enjoyed 100-yard rushing games against West Virginia.
The two things that had escaped the Cyclones' leading rusher was scoring a touchdown against the Mountaineers and enjoy a victory.
Both changed Saturday night at Jack Trice Stadium as Montgomery not only found the end zone and gained 189 yards on 29 carries, but ISU (3-3, 2-2 Big 12) knocked the No. 6 Mountaineers (5-1, 3-1 Big 12) from the ranks of the unbeaten with a convincing 40-14 win.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," Montgomery said, who missed ISU's victory over then-No. 25 Oklahoma State last weekend. "I really wanted to play last week, but the coaches wanted me to heal for a week.
"It helped. I felt good. But, a lot of the credit goes to those guys up front. They dominated up front and made it easy for me."
The question on every Mountaineer football fan's mind as they sat back and watched their No. 6 ranked team fall behind early to upset-minded was 'could history repeat itself'?
The Mountaineers were ranked No. 5 nationally in 2012 when it went to Lubbock, Texas, and was thrashed by the Red Raiders, 49-14. A setback magnified as the Mountaineers lost four more games before being able to celebrate a victory.
West Virginia's vaunted passing attack, which came into the game averaging 365 yards per outing, was limited to 100 total yards Will Grier connected on 11 of 15 attempts and saw his last pass intercepted by a Cyclone prevent unit which recorded eight sacks on the night - the final one resulting in a safety.
"Our kids were ready for this game," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. "They were focused all week and they believed that they could win. Especially after getting that win last weekend in Stillwater.
"The defense played aggressively all night long. They (West Virginia) got off a couple of good plays, but our kids never got down. And continued to battle."
It was WVU's first loss in Ames and puts the series at 5-2 in WVU's favor.
The key was the play of Montgomery and true freshman quarterback Brock Purdy, who completed 18 of 25 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns.
Junior Hakeem Butler was the primary target for Purdy, finishing with 107 yards and a touchdown on six catches. ISU held a 72-42 advantage in total plays run and enjoyed a 37:21-22:39 advantage in time of possession.
"We knew when we recruited Brock (Purdy) that we had something special," Campbell said. "And, he hasn't disappointed. He doesn't play like a freshman and that is what is most surprising."
West Virginia got on the board first when Grier found senior David Sills V for an 18-yard scoring toss on the Mountaineers' third possession of the first quarter. WVU took advantage of a short field thanks to Dravon Askew-Henry's second interception of the year - which gave WVU the ball at the ISU 44.
The Cyclones knotted the game at seven just 2:17 later when Purdy found Butler from four yards out and then took the lead for good on Montgomery's 2-yard run with 13 ticks left in the opening 15 minutes.
ISU had a chance to push that lead up further until USC transfer Kenny Bigelow Jr. broke through the Cyclones front to block Connor Assalley's 39-yard field goal attempt - which was picked up by South Charleston's Derrek Pitts and returned 72 yards for a touchdown to pull the Mountaineers, who had never lost in Ames, back into the game at the intermission.
"Yea, it did," WVU's Dana Holgorsen said of Bigelow's block and Pitts' return. "Then the defense got a three and out and gave our offense one more chance to put points on the board.
"I don't know what we are doing on offense but, whatever it is, it isn't working."
West Virginia will take the next week off before playing host to Baylor at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 25.