Cyclones’ lead evaporates against No. 5 Oklahoma State

AMES — Time was ticking away and Iowa State hurried into its two-minute offense.

Plays were being hustled in as the Cyclones hoped to spring the upset against an undefeated, top-five opponent with three minutes to go. On second and two, quarterback Joel Lanning found freshman Carson Epps for what the ISU sideline believed to be a first down, but the play was ruled short and designated a third and one situation.

Iowa State didn't see the official down and distance before it was too late.

'Line to gain is something that they're supposed to stop to review if they feel it's necessary,' Iowa State Coach Paul Rhoads said. 'So we made a call based on what we thought was a first-and-10 play.'

An incomplete pass to receiver Allen Lazard in the flat and a rush from Mike Warren gave possession back to No. 5 Oklahoma State, but Iowa State stymied the OSU rushing attack — using all three timeouts — and got one last shot. A Lanning interception on the next play sealed the 35-31 win for the Cowboys (10-0, 7-0), keeping their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

For the Cyclones (3-7, 2-5) the inability to communicate the correct down and distance is just the latest in a handful of game-changing situations, but Rhoads didn't use it as an excuse.

With one yard to gain on two plays, he expected his team to have a chance to convert.

'We throw a ball out there and we don't hit it,' Rhoads said. 'We still come back and run the same play on fourth-and-one that you would have ran on third-and-one to pick up the first down and move the sticks.

'Got to execute. You've got to block, you've got to run, you've got to get that first down.'

'We should have been able to get it anyway,' Lanning said. 'We just kind of hurt ourselves toward the end of the game a little bit. I have no idea, but it was close.'

Iowa State did everything but struggle in the first half Saturday, using 17 plays to gain 222 yards of offense on three drives and take a 17-7 lead after the first quarter. Iowa State led 24-7 until near the end of the second quarter, largely due to what Lanning was able to produce in the running game.

Lanning's 11-of-22 passing for 162 yards and a touchdown was accompanied by 14 carries for 130 yards with touchdown runs of 24 and 21 yards.

Mike Warren — who went over 1,000 yards this season Saturday — had 15 rushes for 73 yards.

The Cyclones outgained the Cowboys in total yards, 307 to 238, in the first half, but managed just 104 yards in the final 30 minutes. Oklahoma State took advantage of long third-down conversions to own the time of possession (35:27) and was 11-of-17 on the night.

'We kept trying to stick with our things and we just weren't executing as well, I'd say,' Lanning said. 'The first half we came out and we were ready to go, so I don't really know what happened in the second half. We just kind of fell off offensively a little bit.'

Iowa State travels to Kansas State next Saturday. Kickoff is 11 a.m.

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