A bye week came with impeccable timing for the ISU football team, which has emerged from a nonconference schedule that had a combined record of 23-15 one season ago.

In its 24-20 victory over Connecticut last Friday, Iowa State (3-0) committed 11 penalties for 91 yards and three turnovers — all of which were interceptions by quarterback Steele Jantz. However, the Cyclones did not let the setbacks serve as a nail in the coffin for them.

“We hurt ourselves in what we were trying to accomplish,” said coach Paul Rhoads. “So to be standing here and to be 3-0, I feel we are fortunate.”

On the season, the Cyclones have the second-most penalties in the nation with 30 — only Florida has more with 34 — and are -5 in turnover margin.

“We’ve just got to cut out the mental mistakes,” said left tackle Kelechi Osemele. “It’ll take care of itself as time goes on, as the [offensive line] unit will continue to get better. I’m not too worried about it.”

The difference between this year and years past, however, is the Cyclones’ confidence in clutch situations in which they constantly find themselves.

“There’s more of a swagger on this team,” said junior linebacker Jake Knott. “On offense or defense, no matter what situation we’re put in, we think that we can get out of it and be successful in that situation.”

In this week’s college football rankings, the Cyclones received 19 votes in the AP Top 25 and 27 votes in the USA Today coaches poll — both of which have them ranked 30th in the nation.

“We’re certainly not sneaking up on anybody,” Rhoads said. “The win at UConn was very big. I discussed in the press conference how positive the Kansas victory was for us a year ago, but it was at home.

“This game was on the road, and that UConn defense was a very talented group. They were a very good football team.”

After not having a bye week the past two seasons, Iowa State has one to rest and recover in preparation for the beginning of Big 12 play against No. 19 Texas.

“It puts us in a position going into this next big game with a level of confidence that’s needed if you’re going to play successful football against an opponent that has such a rich tradition as Texas does,” Rhoads said.

Rhoads said that aside from the three players who have been sidelined due to ACL injuries and offensive guard Shaban Dika, who has sustained an MCL injury, everyone should be able to practice Sunday in preparation for the Longhorns.

“We’re a tired football team, we’re banged up a little bit,” Rhoads said. “This rest is what we need to get healthy.”

That preparation, however, will not start until Sunday.

“We haven’t really started too much on Texas,” Osemele said. “We’re just focused on improving and polishing some plays and installing a couple new ones too.”

Despite the fast start and the negative aspects of their game through three games this season, the Cyclones still have a lot to hone before the Longhorns come to Ames on Oct. 1.

“As the coaches say, we’re on borrowed time,” Jantz said. “We can’t keep turning the ball over three times, which a lot of that is on my shoulders, and expect to win.”

As far as the team’s success is concerned, Rhoads still prefers “fortunate” to “lucky.”

“I wouldn’t call us lucky, because we’re doing a number of other things right,” Rhoads said. “But we still are very fortunate, and that fortune will go away as we dive into league play.”

Jantz on the mend

Quarterback Steele Jantz is recovering from a strained foot injury he sustained at the end of the second quarter against UConn.

With the week off, Jantz has had a chance to recover in time for the Cyclones’ game against Texas.

“The foot’s getting a lot better,” Jantz said. “It was pretty sore after the game, but the treatment has helped a lot, and I feel pretty good.”

Jantz’s injury was not readily recognizable as a foot strain until he was examined by the medical staff at halftime.

“We were nervous when he came off because he couldn’t really pinpoint what was the matter with him,” Rhoads said of Jantz. “I couldn’t tell the way he was limping.”

Jantz said he has not missed any workouts or drills and expects to be back to 100 percent by the time practice starts next week.

Big 12 stability

After the Pac-12’s announcement Tuesday that it would not expand to 16 teams that kept Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech from leaving the Big 12, a collective sigh of relief was emitted from the six remaining members of the conference.

Rhoads said Wednesday that he was happy about the news, but was quick to point out that the situation is far from over.

“We’ll all be more relieved when it’s all said and done, and ink is dry wherever things are going to go with the discussions that are going to take place in the near future,” Rhoads said. “But right now it’s certainly a very positive sign.”

However, Rhoads said he did not follow the reports of the alleged happenings around possible conference realignment.

“There was very little out there that was accurate about what was taking place,” Rhoads said. “Anybody citing sources and all that no real idea, in my opinion, what was going on. When the athletic director had information to share with me, which was very rare, then I paid attention.”