Cyclones 1 victory from bowl eligibility

LINCOLN, Neb. - The goal is in sight for Iowa State's football team.

With its incredible 9-7 win at Nebraska, the Cyclones have equaled their victory total from the previous two seasons and are one away from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2005.

Their first crack at win No. 6 comes Saturday in a 2:30 p.m. game at Texas A&M.

“We've got to get one more out of these last four games,” receiver Jake Williams said outside a jubilant locker room. “(A&M) is a tough place to play, but this gives us a lot of confidence.”

ISU (5-3, 2-2 Big 12) ended a pair of 15-game losing streaks Saturday.

It hadn't won a conference game away from Ames in 15 tries and - more significantly - had lost 15 straight games to Nebraska at Memorial Stadium dating back to 1977.

Rhoads was emotionally-charged as he saluted ISU fans in attendance at Memorial Stadium with a barrage of fist pumps, clips of which were shown on ESPN's SportsCenter.

Video shot inside ISU's locker room was even more impassioned as players mobbed the coach and doused him with water, Gatorade and whatever else they could find. Rhoads was moved nearly to tears.

“He was really pumped up,” Williams said. “It feels great to win this game for him.”

They did it with injured stars Alexander Robinson and Austen Arnaud on the sideline unable to play.

Arnaud was in uniform and lightly went through pre-game warm-ups but gave way to red-shirt freshman Jerome Tiller. Arnaud bruised his right throwing hand the previous week against Baylor.

“He would have gone in if he had to, but there was too much swelling,” Rhoads said. “If you picked a place for your backup quarterback to start his first game I promise you it wouldn't be Memorial Stadium and Lincoln, Nebraska.”

Arnaud and Robinson, who has a sore groin, should be able to play against the Aggies, who upset No. 21 Texas Tech, 52-30, Saturday night a week after an embarrassing 48-point loss to Kansas State.

Iowa State used eight - yes, eight - Nebraska turnovers and just enough offense to move one step closer to the postseason. It was a victory few thought was possible.

“It's big, but this one won't beat Texas A&M,” Rhoads said.

The Cyclones sit in second place in the North Division behind surprise leader Kansas State.

After A&M, they have home games with Oklahoma State and Colorado and finish the regular season at Missouri, who is bringing up the rear in the North at 0-3.

ISU went to five bowls in six years from 2000 to 2005. To make a return in Rhoads' first season would be quite an accomplishment.

“That's our goal definitely,” said senior defensive tackle Nate Frere. “One game away. We are just going to keep doing what we've been doing and that will hopefully turn into a bowl game.”

-By Eric Petersen