Comeback kids?

AMES - Sweaty palms.

Gutsy, comeback wins.

Somehow, Iowa State has turned that anxiety and elation-filled formula into a 3-0 start for the first time since 2005.

“It's kind of bittersweet,” said Cyclone quarterback Steele Jantz, whose team enjoys a bye today before welcoming Texas to Jack Trice Stadium for next Saturday's 6 p.m. Big 12 Conference season opener. “The sweet being 3-0 and we've shown we can handle adversity. The other part of it is, as the coaches say, we're on borrowed time. We can't keep turning the ball over three times - and a lot of it's on my shoulders - and expect to win.”

Jantz's topsy-turvy rookie season provides a microcosmic view of ISU's life on the edge of the ‘W' column. In the first three quarters of games, Jantz has thrown for a combined 346 total yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions. In the fourth quarter and beyond, he's racked up 320 yards through the air, four touchdowns and zero picks.

“All I can say is when we're down we do whatever it takes to win,” Jantz said.

So far, so good, despite the irregular heartbeat.

Thanks to three straight late-game winning rallies - an unprecedented feat since 1960 - ISU stands one more monumental triumph over Texas from crafting its best start since 2000.

The Cyclones had stitched together two consecutive fourth-quarter comeback wins just once (against Rice and San Diego State in 1978) in the previous 40 seasons.

“No matter what situation we're in, we think we can get out of it,” said linebacker and leading tackler Jake Knott. “Whether on defense or offense.”

The defense has contributed key stops in each of the wins. Opponents have scored a combined 13 points off 10 ISU turnovers.

“You want to have those type of wins but you don't want to have them if you don't have to,” linebacker A.J. Klein said. “I think in the past three weeks, though, defensively we've stepped up to the challenge. I know we've been put in bad situations, but defensively we've been playing great football and we need to continue to do that to give our offense the opportunity to keep scoring.”

The Cyclones' sporadic offense has produced several highlight-reel-worthy plays during the 3-0 run - from Jantz's across-his-body desperation touchdown throw to Josh Lenz against Northern Iowa to Darius Darks' clutch third-down catch on the winning drive in triple overtime against Iowa.

Lenz also has shined in the return game - and threw a touchdown pass to Darius Reynolds to help spur last week's comeback at UConn.

But Lenz's most impressive play came in the third quarter against the Huskies, when he summoned the body control to leap and snare a Jantz throw on the sideline, somehow coming down with a toe barely in bounds.

ISU Coach Paul Rhoads proclaimed it the best catch he's ever seen after the game. He hasn't changed that assessment.

“I bragged about it since I got back to my boys,” Rhoads said. “Then I was sleeping Saturday afternoon and they had to come wake me up and tell me how great they thought it was. It was a spectacular play and a very key play.”

It's also the type of play the Cyclones hope can keep coming, but without the added drama of do-or-die situations.

Tere's plenty to clean up - an average of 10 penalties a game and the 10 turnovers, which begs the question: How good can the team be if the costly mistakes are snuffed out?

"We've shown glimpses at the end of games and stuff when we come back, but we've just got to convert that to the whole game; take out all the penalties and turnovers," Lenz said. "We've got to eliminate that and we'll be fine."