Despite all that went wrong for the ISU football team, it found a way to win.

Iowa State won its first road game of the season when it defeated Connecticut 24-20 in East Hartford, Conn., on Friday night.

The Cyclones (3-0) have now won all three of their games by a combined eight points, putting together big fourth-quarter performances in each of them.

“I don’t know if anybody picked us to win three [games]. One or two, maybe, but I don’t think anyone picked us to win three,” ISU coach Paul Rhoads said after the game. “Confidence continues to build as we find ways to win football games. I’ve got a confident group of young men to begin with and they’ve got to focus on improving as we move forward.”

With 10 more penalties than the Huskies (1-2) and an identical figure in turnovers, the pressure situation was almost too familiar to the Cyclones.

“They like it,” Rhoads said. “They like the spotlight that goes with it and finding a way to execute and make plays when games are on the line.”

Quarterback Steele Jantz began the game going 0-for-4 with three interceptions in the first quarter as UConn got out to an early 10-0 lead.

“I asked the ref if we could start over after the first quarter was done,” Rhoads joked after the game. “He said, ‘Sorry, coach, we can’t to do that.’ It’s one of those that you almost have to scratch your head and allow yourself to smile a little bit because we were still in the game.”

Jantz would go on to finish 18-for-29 in pass completions with 200 yards and one touchdown.

A couple big plays by receivers Darius Reynolds and Josh Lenz kept the Cyclones in the game, as the two combined for 10 catches and 186 receiving yards in the contest.

“Our defense was playing a great game in the whole first half; the whole game they played great,” said Reynolds, who hauled in two touchdown passes. “We knew we had to help them out and do our part, so we picked it up a little bit.”

In the third quarter, the Cyclones employed a trick play that resulted in a touchdown pass from Lenz to Reynolds — a 40-yard bomb to take a 14-10 lead, the first of the game for the Cyclones.

“I came in right before that and they called the play,” Lenz said. “I was just trying to see what they were lined up in and I had to run a little bit deeper than usual because they were bringing some pressure off that back side there. As soon as I caught it [from Jantz], I just looked up and saw [Reynolds] downfield and just let it fly.”

The Cyclones now have a week off before beginning Big 12 play in a home game against No. 19 Texas.

“The open week comes at an excellent time for us,” Rhoads said. “We’re beat up, we’re tired, we’ll take advantage of the rest as Texas will as they are open as well and then we’ll get onto the next week’s preparation.”