Austen Arnaud stormed into the end zone, ball in hand, pointing his hands in celebration toward the stands. Arnaud’s second-quarter touchdown on Saturday capped off a textbook, 4:10 drive in which Arnaud drove the offense 73 yards to give the Cyclones the lead against Baylor.

After three consecutive games of struggling to maintain consistency in the passing game, Arnaud put together a 293-yard and three-touchdown performance against Kansas last week.

For the majority of the first half on Saturday, Arnaud kept that momentum going.

Arnaud’s efficient command of the offense came after two shaky possessions in which the offense did not reach the red zone. By Iowa State’s third drive, however, Arnaud found a steady rhythm. The quarterback completed 11 of his next 13 passes and picked up two touchdowns, including his scoring run at the start of the second quarter. 

“He is getting more comfortable on the field,” tight end Derrick Catlett said of Arnaud’s control of the offense this season. “And as he gets more comfortable, he settles us down, he’s our leader, we feed off him. Once he gets playing like the way he did tonight, it makes our job easier.”

But after racking up 211 yards of total offense in the first half, Arnaud’s impressive performance came to an end only one drive into the second half.

Early in the first half Arnaud suffered a bruise on his throwing hand. Arnaud, who was not available to talk to with the media after the game, tried to play through the injury, but eventually had to be taken out of the game in favor of redshirt freshman Jerome Tiller.

“It swelled up on him at halftime, and he couldn’t grip the ball effectively to start the second half,” coach Paul Rhoads said. “He threw his only pass [of the second half] into the ground, and just didn’t have control of the football. We thought it was smart to put Jerome in at that point and not put our football team in a position to lose the game because [Arnaud] couldn’t execute efficiently.”

Tiller, who had not seen any playing time since week three against Kent State, entered the game on the second series of the third quarter.

“He stepped in and the kids rallied around him,” Rhoads said. “There was no worry or panic on anybody’s face. They knew Jerome would do the job. He made the key throws, safe throws, and obviously he’s got talent with the ball in his hands when he runs.”

On Saturday, Tiller’s play had a level of consistency that had been missing early this year. In the three appearances he has made this season, Tiller completed only 7-of-18 passes. Against Baylor, Tiller threw just one incompletion out of eight attempts, totaling 48 yards. He also showed his ability to create plays on ground, rushing for 80 yards, including his first career touchdown that came off a 20-yard run in the third quarter.

Although the Cyclones put up 13 points in the second half, Tiller and the offense botched several opportunities to pad their lead. Iowa State found itself in the red zone on two consecutive fourth-quarter drives, but both ended in a missed field goal.

Despite the pair of missed chances, Tiller’s second-half effort left a notable impression on some of his teammates.

“It was gutsy what he did,” said wide receiver Marquis Hamilton. “He came in with a lot of pressure on him, but he stepped up and played well.”

After the game, Tiller said he was not rattled by the abrupt call to enter the game.

“It was a big relief to finally get in and get a [touchdown],” Tiller said. “But I’ve played in recent games, so it wasn’t much different getting into the game and playing.”

Arnaud’s injury does not appear to be serious and he should in all likelihood be ready for next Saturday against Nebraska, Rhoads said.

Catlett had little doubt his quarterback would be under center against the Cornhuskers.

“He said his hand is fine, it’s just a little banged up. With how competitive he is, he won’t let the coaches sit him out,” Catlett said.