Iowa State seeks back-to-back wins at Kansas State for the first time since the 1980s

AMES — Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht left the field after last Saturday’s 26-16 loss to No. 7 Texas disappointed and excited.

The Cyclones’ slim hopes to play in the Big 12 football title game had evaporated into the ether, but another shot at a Top 20 team on the road — as well as playing in a sixth bowl game in seven seasons — still lurked in the immediate future.

“You love to play in a bowl game every year,” said Becht, a record-setting redshirt freshman who faces No. 19 Kansas State at 7 p.m. Saturday to close the regular season in Manhattan, Kan. “But you also love to play in a conference championship game and that’s what we really wanted.

“We were a hair off (last Saturday). I felt like we executed well on some things. It’s just stuff that, you know, I feel like could have been better on my part. We’ll get it fixed and we’ll figure it out.”

ISU (6-5, 5-3) already has become the second team this century to have rebounded from a one-win Big 12 season to post a winning conference season in the following year. The 2000 version of the Cyclones accomplished a similarly striking one-season turnaround and Becht could potentially lead his team to two or more consecutive road wins against the always-tough Wildcats (8-3, 6-2) since the 1980s.

ISU won at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, 33-20, in 2021 — Brock Purdy’s final season with the Cyclones. Reprising that type of performance will be difficult against a Kansas State team that has won 12 of the past 15 meetings in the series, but it’s far from impossible despite Las Vegas oddsmakers tabbing ISU as 10.5-point underdogs.

“Our kids believe,” said Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell, whose team will finish with a winning record in Big 12 play for the sixth time in the past seven seasons. “And our kids believe that it doesn’t matter who, when, where we’re gonna play, we’ve got the ability to win the football game.”

Saturday in the so-called “Little Apple,” that likely starts with the league’s stingiest defense in terms of yards allowed per game at 335.8, as well as Becht’s ability to guide the offense down the field.

ISU rushed for just nine yards in the loss to the Longhorns — its lowest output on the ground since a 34-14 setback at Colorado in 2010 — and likely will need Becht to strike with his arm and possibly his legs early against Kansas State in order to have a chance to post a second straight win in Manhattan.

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The good news is Becht threw for 323 yards and a pair of touchdowns to running back Eli Sanders and tight end Easton Dean against Texas. He also tossed up one costly interception that he stewed over after the game.

Nonetheless, Becht made several big throws to keep the Cyclones in the game.

“I thought Rocco, precision and detail, I thought he played a really good football game,” Campbell said. “He gave us every chance to certainly win the game.”

Instead, ISU fell short, which is disappointing in the moment and exciting when looking toward the future — both short-term and long-term.

The Cyclones already know they’ll get another month of practice in advance of a bowl game this December. They also know they’re exceptionally young — and barring an NIL-influenced procession into the transfer portal — could return as many as 20 starters on offense and defense next season.

“We’ve got to keep pounding away at it,” Campbell said. “Obviously (we) play a great team (Saturday) on the road that’s a tough place to play, but we’ve got another huge opportunity to try to grow forward from it."

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