QB switch with similar result

AMES - Different quarterback. Same result.

Jared Barnett replaced a struggling Steele Jantz midway through the first quarter Saturday against No. 17 Texas A&M, but couldn't alter the outcome in a 33-17 Big 12 loss before 51,131 fans at Jack Trice Stadium.

“I was ready to go in,” said Barnett, who drove the Cyclones to a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter and finished 16 of 36 for 180 yards. “But Steele went in there and wasn't having a very good day, so Coach (Paul) Roads pulled the trigger on me and expected me to go out there and make the plays.”

He did - completing his first three passes on a touchdown drive capped by James White's 19-yard run to the end zone.

But too many dropped passes and four consecutive fruitless first-half drives limited his progress as ISU spiraled to its fourth-straight Big 12 loss, the longest skid in the Rhoads era.

“Lack of execution,” Rhoads said of an offense that went dormant as the Aggies scored 27 unanswered points to take a 30-7 third-quarter lead. “I don't know what our drop count was, but it was significant.”

Jantz saw his first pass of the game tipped, intercepted by A&M's Trent Hunter and returned to the Cyclones' 14-yard line.

The defense - which held the Aggies' high-powered offense to 23 yards on 17 plays in the first quarter - allowed just a field goal and continued to shine as Barnett took over on the offense's fourth possession about seven minutes into the game.

A&M punted on four of its first five possessions and trailed 7-6 before striking for two touchdowns in the final 4:18 of the first half.

“In parts of the game, I think you saw shades of the Iowa State team we can be - and the Iowa State team we know we have here,” said linebacker Jake Knott, who had three tackles and a quarterback hurry. “We've just got to keep that going for the entire game.”

Penalties hurt ISU again. Two came on what Rhoads deemed a turning point of the game.

Late in the first half, the Aggies faced third and 15 from their own 47 and the Cyclones (3-4, 0-4) seemed primed for another stop. But offsides was called, which prompted A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill to loft the ball downfield on a free play.

Officials then whistled ISU defensive back Ter'Ran Benton for pass interference - a flag that drew the ire of Rhoads and the crowd.

A&M (5-2, 3-1) went up 13-7 five plays later and didn't trail again.

“Those are the kind of plays, especially on third downs, those plays just kill us,” said ISU linebacker A.J. Klein, who recorded his second straight double-digit tackle game with 10.

The Cyclones didn't wilt, though.

Barnett, fueled by two passes for 49 yards to Josh Lenz, led ISU on an eight-play, 74-yard touchdown drive that made the score 30-14 with 6:50 left in the third quarter.

And after the Cyclones' Matt Morton recovered a fumble off a Texas A&M blockers' leg, Zach Guyer added a 43-yard field goal to narrow the gap to 30-17.

But the Cyclones got no closer as a fourth-and-18 pass from Barnett to James White with 3:53 left from the Aggies' 23-yard line netted only 17 yards.

“Whether it's blocking, catching the ball, just going out there the main thing is execution,” said Lenz, who charted single-game career highs in catches (eight) and yards (117). “And that's not what we're doing right now. We've got to clean that up. We showed glimpses of it out there.”

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