The Cyclones are coming off their worst loss of the season and the surprising departure of Philip Bates, but the team believes they can put both in the past and get on with the second half of the season.

“You know we are struggling right now,” said coach Gene Chizik. “We try to keep our kids focused. We try to really take one game at a time. The past can’t dictate your future.”

After winning the first two games of the season, the Cyclones are in the midst of a four game losing streak, with the latest being a 38-10 beatdown at the hands of Baylor.

“Everyone here is really pissed off that we got beat like we did at Baylor,” said quarterback Austen Arnaud.

The 38 points given up to the Bears was the most points given up by the Cyclones all season. It was also the third straight game that Iowa State has allowed 30 plus points.

“We really try to hit that reset button and get everyone back to where we were the first couple of games,” said offensive lineman Doug Dedrick.

As bad as the defense looked against Baylor, the offense may have played worse. The 257 yards that the Cyclones mustered was their lowest output of the season, surpassing the 306-yard game against UNLV.

“That was the worst performance up to date in my opinion. I think that was clear for everybody to see. I don’t think that [at] any point in the game we were in it,” Chizik said.

If the Cyclones need motivation to get out of their rut, they need only to look at last year’s team. The 2007 Cyclones headed into the eighth game of the season facing No. 4 Oklahoma only a week after getting embarrassed by No. 22 Texas 56-3.

With nobody expecting Iowa State to put up a fight, the Cyclones found themselves ahead 7-0 at the end of the third quarter before eventually losing in the fourth quarter.

Chizik said that last year’s Oklahoma game is proof that his team is capable of putting a bad game behind them.

The Cyclones are exactly halfway through the season and stand at 2-4 with six games remaining on the schedule.

“We took [Sunday] to watch the film and reassess what happened. We’re moving on and we got six more games and we’re going to play those to the best of our ability,” said defensive tackle Nate Frere.

One day before the team traveled to Waco to take on Baylor, they were informed that backup quarterback Bates would be quitting the team and transferring to another school.

The team was informed of Bates’ departure when his father, Phillip Bates Sr. informed the athletics department Thursday morning.

“We wish Phillip Bates the best. He is a great young man and we’re going to help him try to achieve everything he wants to achieve in college football by giving him a release to wherever he wants to go, and we wish him the best,” Chizik said. “I wish I would have had the chance to tell him that myself, but I didn’t — and that was not by my choice, but we’ve moved on.”

Chizik said he would refuse to comment on Bates for the rest of the season.

The news of Bates’ plans came as a surprise to not only the fans but also his former teammates.

“I really don’t even know what to say about it yet, but I think a lot of us are shocked,” said wide receiver Darius Darks.

Arnaud said he spoke with Bates on Thursday morning and wished him luck with wherever he goes.