KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Cyclones ended the third quarter of their game Saturday on both a positive and negative note.

ISU quarterback Austen Arnaud gained 9 yards on a scramble to end the quarter, but he was slow to get up. He made his way off the field favoring his left arm and would make his way to the locker room shortly thereafter.

Coach Paul Rhoads later described Arnaud’s injury as a bruised shoulder. 

Jerome Tiller started the fourth quarter and led the Cyclones to a field goal that gave the Cyclones a 20-17 lead over Kansas State.

Arnaud then re-entered the game, and gave the Cyclones a chance to win before fumbling the ball away with a little more than two minutes left in the game. 

The defense was able to hold the KSU offense to a field goal, but the game ended when Arnaud’s pass fell incomplete on fourth-and-6 with 20 seconds left.

Tiller was unaware at the time Arnaud went down and had to head into the game on short notice.

“Somebody said, ‘Hey, Jerome you got to go in,'” Tiller said. “I was like ‘Oh really?’ so I just got my stuff and warmed up real quick. My legs were a little cold. I was trying to warm up as quick as possible, but it just wasn’t working for me.”

Tiller believed that he was going to stay in the remainder of the game before Arnaud was put back in after returning from the locker room.

Tiller described his series as being fun, but wasn’t completely satisfied with the result.

“I could have thrown a better ball for a touchdown, but other than that I think we did pretty well,” Tiller said.

Rhoads was impressed with both Tiller’s demeanor on the sideline and his play on the field.

He said the plays that were called were plays that Tiller was comfortable running.

“He did a very nice job,” Rhoads said. “He showed great poise on the sidelines and great poise in the huddle. He made good decisions for all those plays. The hardest decision he had to make was after the ball was snapped, and he did that.” 

Arnaud downplayed the significance of the injury after the game.

“I don’t think at all,” Arnaud said when asked if the injury affected his play for the remainder of the game. “It was very hot out there and it was steamy. The ball was wet and my hands were wet, but that can’t be the deciding factor in the game. I have to play better and put the ball in play.”

Arnaud completed 15-of-27 passes for 122 yards and one touchdown. He was also sacked twice, but didn’t throw an interception for the first time this season.

Arnaud also ran 13 times for 50 yards.

Going forward, Rhoads wants to make sure he gives Arnaud’s arm some rest and monitor how much he moves it.

“He’s a tough guy, he’s a captain,” receiver Jake Williams said of Arnaud. “He’s always going to want to be on the field and he’s going to make plays when he can. It’s good to have a leader that has that mentality.”