AMES, Iowa (AP) – It wasn’t the smoothest of openers for Iowa State. But it went down as a relatively comfortable win for the Cyclones – one they won’t look down on after last year’s opening debacle against Northern Iowa. Jacob Park threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns and Iowa State, aided by a pair of interception returns for TDs, beat the FCS Panthers 42-24 in the season opener for both teams Saturday.

David Montgomery ran for 82 yards and two scores for the Cyclones, who scored 21 straight points to hold off the Panthers just a year after losing to Northern Iowa. “I thought it was a good team win. Was it perfect? No,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “The thing I was most impressed with was that we didn’t panic.”

Willie Harvey (12 yards) and Kamari Cotton-Moya (18 yards) returned Eli Dunne picks for scores in the first quarter. Montgomery then closed the first half with an 8-yard TD run and opened the second with a 3-yard score to make it 28-10.

The Cyclones essentially put it away midway through the third quarter on a 9-yard TD pass from Park to Marchie Murdock that put them ahead 35-10. Iowa State’s Allen Lazard caught eight passes for 108 yards to set a new school record for career receptions with 178. Dunne was 23 of 38 passing for 259 yards with three TDs and three interceptions.