One week after nearly everything went right for the Cyclones, positives were hard to find Saturday night.

Riding high after a 14-point win over Texas Tech, Iowa State (3-3, 1-1 Big 12) fell to No. 10 Utah (5-0, 2-0 Mountain West) 68-27 at Jack Trice Stadium.

“There was clearly a big difference in team speed out there tonight,” said ISU coach Paul Rhoads. “That showed in all three phases … and we were soundly beat in all three phases of the game.”

The Utes came in as the 10th-ranked team in the country, but only as six-point favorites over the Cyclones. The game’s first quarter ended with Iowa State leading 14-10 and gave ISU fans hope of an upset.

But the Utes’ 31-point second quarter was more than enough to put the game out of reach.

Iowa State was held scoreless for 23:35 while Utah scored 34 unanswered points.

“We lost energy,” Rhoads said.

Iowa State got its first two scores off of Utah turnovers to take the 14-10 lead.

After the first ISU touchdown, Utah got a field goal and forced an ISU three-and-out. On the ensuing punt, Ute return man Shaky Smithson brought the ball back 78 yards to the ISU 2-yard line, and Utah would score on the next play.

Another Utah turnover, though, put Iowa State on a short field and led to its second touchdown.

“Everything seemed to be going back and forth, and I don’t think anybody in the stands at that point thought this game was a mismatch,” Rhoads said.

Unfortunately for the Cyclone faithful, it quickly became just that.

Another major reason for the big Utah second quarter was the inconsistency of the ISU offense.

In the second quarter alone, the ISU offense had three drives end after a three-and-out, one end in a missed 53-yard kick and another with an interception by ISU quarterback Austen Arnaud.

Iowa State was outgained by Utah 280-79 in the second quarter.

“It was great persistence by them,” Arnaud said. “We just didn’t take care of our business and take care of our end as an offense.

“When teams score like that, you’ve got to be able to answer. And we didn’t do that.”

Arnaud struggled to 13-of-31 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns, but he also was sacked and threw two interceptions.

The ISU offense was held to 348 total yards and was unable to convert any of its 11 third-down tries.

“We played right into their hands,” Arnaud said. “We were moving the ball at times, but … I’ll credit to them. They were flying around and moving around, and we just didn’t get it done.”

Although the ISU defense was the reason for the Cyclones’ fast start, it seemed it could do no right once the first quarter came to an end.

When the ISU offense came off of the field in the second quarter, the defense was put in bad positions to keep Utah out of the end zone.

The Cyclones’ defense allowed 15 first downs in the quarter, and it’s regular “bend-don’t-break” style yielded four drives ending in the end zone.

“They came out fast,” said ISU linebacker A.J. Klein. “We just have to adjust to the speed and tempo, and we didn’t really do that … We didn’t really do that well.”

Klein was tied with safety David Sims, who forced both of Utah’s turnovers, for the team lead in stops with 10 each.

In the end, though, the unit gave up 28 first downs and 593 yards and allowed Utah to convert eight of 13 third downs.

Following three straight home games and the loss to Utah, Iowa State now takes to the road for two consecutive weeks, traveling to No. 6 Oklahoma and to Austin, Texas, to face the Longhorns.

The game with Oklahoma will be the Cyclones’ third straight against a team coming off of a bye week.

“We had an excellent week of preparation,” Rhoads said. “We’ve got to go back and find answers.”