Iowa State football vs. Southeast Missouri report card: Hunter Dekkers carries Cyclones to victory

AMES — Iowa State football started its season off strong with a 42-10 win over Southeast Missouri, and it was an attention-grabbing game from start to finish.

Three touchdowns on Iowa State’s first three drives. An interception. Southeast Missouri State’s star linebacker ejected for targeting.

Saturday’s season opener in Ames featured a bit of everything, especially as the Cyclones piled on touchdown after touchdown to secure a win in Week 1. While Iowa State did walk away with an easy victory over the Redhawks, the Cyclones' performance was far from perfect.

From defensive struggles to a slow start in the run game, Iowa State will need to see improvements – fast – if the Cyclones hope to hold their own against tougher opponents down the road.

Let’s break down the best and worst parts of the Cyclones' game in the first Iowa State football report card of the season.

More: Peterson's thoughts in Iowa State's 42-10 win over Southeast Missouri State in opener

Offense: Hunter Dekkers seizes opportunity, carries weight of missing run game early

Iowa State football is in the Hunter Dekkers era now, and boy is it a thing of beauty after the first game of the season.

Dekkers is the real deal, at least that’s what it looked like on Saturday. His transition from backup quarterback to the starting role seemed effortless against Southeast Missouri, at least early on. His first touchdown pass of the game was a 33-yard rocket to Xavier Hutchinson. Dekkers' second touchdown pass of the afternoon? A 33-yarder to Hutchinson.

There’s no denying that the Dekkers-Hutchinson connection is solid. The duo combined for three touchdowns, and Dekkers added another passing score to DeShawn Hanika for four touchdown passes on the day. He couldn’t add to that tally before true freshman Rocco Becht took over.

While Dekkers shined as Iowa State’s new leading man, the Cyclones' offense as a whole was not without fault. Saying the run game got off to a slow start would be an understatement. True freshman Cartevious Norton was the Cyclones leading rusher in the first half but had just 10 yards. Starter Jirehl Brock couldn’t find a gap in SEMO’s defense, and he finished the first half with 5 yards.

Now, in fairness to Brock, he excelled in the second half. On Iowa State’s first drive of the third quarter, Brock had 39 yards. He finished with 105 total rushing yards and one touchdown. So, yes the run game eventually picked up. But Iowa State can’t afford to wait until the second half to have options other than Dekkers’ arm against other opponents.

Grade: B+

Defense: Not bad, but not great

Listen, holding any opponent to a touchdown and a field goal would be considered a success in most game situations. And against Southeast Missouri, Iowa State’s offense scored more than enough points to pull out a win.

But the first half didn’t highlight the best of the Cyclones' defense.

Now, Iowa State doesn’t have very many star names on defense. But they do have reliable players with game experience – players that should’ve performed better against an opponent like SEMO.

The first example of the defense’s need for adjustment was when Iowa State allowed Southeast Missouri’s quarterback to convert on 4th and 1. Sure, that’s not that big of a deal on its own. But when the defense allows a 30-yard pass in open space, a quarterback's nine-yard run for a first down, a 29-yard pass and then misses a sack, allowing SEMO’s quarterback to run 20 more yards…those sorts of misses can make or break a game against a much more competitive opponent.

Like the run game, the defense performed much better in the second half and a lot of young players showed promise. If Iowa State can work through those bumps now, the Cyclones will have a better chance when they face tougher conference opponents.

Grade: B-

Special teams: Freshman get off to a good start in season opener

Two freshmen earned starting jobs in Iowa State’s special teams unit: Kicker Jace Gilbert and punter Tyler Perkins.

Gilbert opened his college career with two touchbacks on his first two kicks and continued to perform well on kickoffs as Iowa State added touchdowns to the scoreboard. He was consistent and didn’t waver in his first start.

Perkins added to Iowa State’s kicking success. He had just three punts against SEMO, but kicked for a total of 140 yards. The freshman averaged 46.7 yards a kick, and he posted a long of 50 yards in his first college football game.

Outside of kicking and punting, the rest of Iowa State’s special teams shined. On punt returns, the Cyclones held Southeast Missouri’s Dalyn McDonald to a seven-yard loss. McDonald did return two kickoffs for 32 total yards, but Gilbert didn’t give SEMO many opportunities outside of that.

On the opposite side of kickoffs, Iowa State’s Eli Sanders returned two kickoffs for 40 total yards, including a long of 21 yards.

All-in-all, special teams was the Cyclones' best unit on Saturday. Even with Dekkers' superstar day, the special teams' quiet contributions were a good sign for the rest of the season.

Grade: A

Coaching: Things to nitpick, but all around a solid start on the sidelines

A win in Week 1 is good. A win by 32 points is great.

Matt Campbell shook off the September scaries with a season-opening win, and his team did it in style. There's very little to nitpick with the offense, especially with the performance Dekkers put on. But the run game was too slow in the first half – just 22 total yards between three players – and the Cyclones' offensive staff couldn’t seem to find a solution until after halftime.

Now, the turnaround in the run game after halftime…that’s a good sign. If the offensive coaching staff can adapt quicker in those situations, Iowa State’s passing and running games could be even more dangerous.

As for the defense, there were some plays where Iowa State just didn’t seem to have it all together. Be it miscommunication or just shaking off first-game jitters, Southeast Missouri did find a way to expose the weaknesses in the Cyclones’ defense. Other teams will surely exploit those same weaknesses down the road if Iowa State doesn’t address them soon.

Grade: B+

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football report card: Hunter Dekkers excels against SEMO