KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With his helmet and gloves lying on the trainers’ table, ISU running back Alexander Robinson could only watch as the Cyclones found themselves falling one point shy of sending Kansas State to overtime.

The Big 12’s third leading rusher, Robinson, was forced to take up a stoic position on the sideline for much of Saturday’s game after he aggravated his lingering groin injury. Robinson’s status had been in question all week after he went down with the injury against Army last weekend.

“A groin injury is an injury that you have to take care of,” said coach Paul Rhoads after the game. “The medical staff did a phenomenal job getting him ready to play, but he was not 100 percent.”

Robinson tried to battle through the injury, taking several snaps on Iowa State’s first three drives of the game. On the last play of the first quarter, Robinson showed off the flashy speed that has been the hallmark of his success this season, fending off several Kansas State defenders for a 37-yard run. But after the play, Robinson rose to his feet gingerly and walked to the sideline with a noticeable limp in his step.

After a quick conversation with the medical and coaching staffs, the call was made to sit Robinson for the remainder of the game.

“[A groin injury] is not something you mess around with, so we took his helmet, put him on the bench and told him to get [backup] Jeremiah Schwartz motivated and into the football game,” Rhoads said. “And Alexander did a nice job of doing exactly that.”

With Robinson out, Schwartz, a redshirt freshman, found himself shouldering the majority of the rushing responsibilities. The 5-foot-11, 232 pound Schwartz powered his way to 76 yards on 21 carriers, including a 16-yard run in the third quarter that helped set up a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Austen Arnaud.

“Coming into the week I knew I was going to play a little bit more,” Schwartz said. “I didn’t know it would be this much, but all the coaches told me I had to step up just case of whatever happens.”

Although he does not have the same flashy, big play style Robinson puts on display, Schwartz, who is 47 pounds heavier than Robinson, is able to use his extra muscle to gain yardage.

“He’s not exactly fast but he’s quick with his movements,” Arnaud said. “He gives us a nice little change up from A-Rob, who is our speed guy, and Jeremiah can come in there and change the tempo, put his shoulder pads down and get us a first down when needed.”

While Schwartz provided a quality performance, Robinson remains Iowa State’s feature back.

Because of the caution the Cyclones’ have exercised with Robinson, Rhoads expects the star running back to be able to play next weekend when Iowa State takes on Kansas.

“I think we were smart in how we handled him,” Rhoads said. “We were conservative with him in warm up. We were conservative on the drive. We got him treated right away. It would be our hope that by next Saturday he will be healed up and ready to go.”