Cyclones look to regroup after pasting by Utah

AMES - Iowa State players and coaches went back to work Sunday fresh off one of the worst home beatings in school history.

Shaking off Saturday night's 68-27 loss is priority No. 1 as the Cyclones (3-3, 1-1 Big 12) get ready to play another top-10 opponent.

“We just have to keep guys positive and come back (Sunday) and go back to work,” quarterback Austen Arnaud said. “It wasn't our night.”

Utah put on a point-scoring show unlike any ever witnessed from an opponent at Jack Trice Stadium. The Utes - who actually dropped a spot to No. 11 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Sunday - set a new stadium record while amassing 593 yards of offense and over 1,000 total when you include return yards on kickoffs, punts and interceptions.

It's not an exaggeration to say that the numbers could have been even more lopsided.

As it was, ISU hadn't allowed that many points to an opponent since a 77-14 loss at Nebraska in 1997.

A 6 p.m. game at sixth-ranked Oklahoma (5-0, 1-0) is next with Texas the following week.

“This was a great team,” Arnaud said. “We've got one coming next week, too. We have to hope that we come out with more energy … This was a non-conference (loss) but it still hurts getting embarrassed on your home field.”

The Cyclones had some thinking upset early on.

They converted a pair of turnovers into touchdowns and took a 14-10 lead into the second quarter. It quickly evaporated.

The Utes (5-0) continued their second-quarter domination of opponents, scoring 31 straight points to close the first half and put the game on ice. Utah incredibly has outscored opponents 101-7 this season in the second period.

ISU's tired defense could not get a stop.

“When they are running the ball up and down the field like that it's hard to regroup and hold your ground,” said linebacker A.J. Klein. “There's not much else to say about it. We knew if we couldn't stop them it was going to be this type of game.”

Arnaud hit tight end Collin Franklin with a 36-yard touchdown pass and third-string quarterback James Capello added a late scoring run to make the end result a little more respectable.

Arnaud finished 13 of 31 passing for 178 yards. He had two touchdowns to go with two interceptions.

To make matters worse, Coach Paul Rhoads revealed tailback Alexander Robinson injured a foot badly enough to require X-rays.

His status for the Oklahoma game is unknown.

Robinson rushed 12 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. Backups Shontrelle Johnson and Jeff Woody played the entire second half in his place.

Rhoads' message to team afterward was not to panic.

The Cyclones are at the midpoint of the season and goals are still within reach. Saturday night's loss was ugly in a lot of ways, but the page has to be turned.

“We can't dwell on it. We just have to move on,” Klein said. “This is a little bit of a road bump. We are going to get back on track.”