A lot of tears and emotion poured out of the ISU locker room.

For the seniors, it was the last chance to wear the cardinal and gold. For the younger players, it was a chance to get more experience and jumpstart the momentum into the offseason.

But for Iowa State as a whole, it was the last chance this season to right a few wrongs, get one last win and sing the fight song one more time.

The ISU football team got to do all of that in its 52-44 triple overtime win against West Virginia in Morgantown, W.Va. on Saturday. With the win, the Cyclones finished 3-9 overall and 2-7 in the Big 12, and for a senior class that has been a part of three bowl games, their careers ended on a high note.

“Finishing with two wins gives them just a huge positive taste in their mouth about leaving this program and allows them to leave sticking their chest back out again,” said ISU coach Paul Rhoads. “And of course it propels us into the off-season with renewed strength and vision and so forth.”

The win didn’t come without a little adversity, though. After three three-and-outs, an interception and a fumble recovery for a touchdown, the ISU offense struggled to gain traction early and the Cyclones found themselves in a 17-0 hole.

Iowa State was down as much as 31-7 in the second quarter, a mark that would have possibly caused the team to roll over a couple weeks ago. But the message before this game was that adversity would come, Iowa State would just have to respond.

“Everybody wants to finish with a W,” Rhoads said. “It was [West Virginia’s] senior day; guys that have done a lot for this school and program. A lot for this school and program; they were going to play. Certainly didn’t count on the turnovers and opportunities we provided for them, but adversity was discussed and the response to it was going to have to be a must and the kids did.

“Even down 31-7, never did our sideline change like it did at Oklahoma.”

Rhoads said redshirt freshman quarterback Grant Rohach grew up a lot in that loss to Oklahoma. His growth as a quarterback showed in Saturday’s win as he went 25-of-39 passing for 331 yards and four touchdowns with just one interception.

What the win did for the young quarterback couldn’t have been more valuable. Ending on a winning note propels Rohach and the team into spring ball, but getting the win didn’t come without a team effort, especially down 31-7 in the second quarter.

“It’s demoralizing to say the least, but I have full faith in our guys to come back,” Rohach said. “And I think that’s why we didn’t keel over and give up that game. We have faith in each other to do our job and get the win.”

For seniors like safety Jacques Washington, his ISU career ended just like he wanted to. Even though the wins didn’t come as often as he hoped they would throughout the year.

“It’s good for me to end this way. It was a great game,” Washington said. “We were down 31-7 and the things that we did to show this program that we’re not done. To show that it wasn’t just some fluke wins the past four years. The most important thing is confidence for those younger guys.”