After letting a 20-point lead slip away in the third quarter, the Cyclones still saw a glimmer of hope — trailing 35-26 with three and a half minutes to play.

Iowa State got the quick spark it needed when Leonard Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the ISU 45-yard line.

After a false start penalty and a couple of short gains, the Cyclones faced a third down and seven. Quarterback Austen Arnaud hooked up with Sedrick Johnson for a 13-yard gain to get the drive going in the right direction.

With Iowa State playing not only against Kansas but also the game clock, the Cyclones used a hurry up offense to quickly navigate down the field.

The Cyclones got into the red zone after a 19-yard pass from Arnaud to R.J. Sumrall, and five plays later Arnaud connected with Marquis Hamilton for a 2-yard touchdown.

Iowa State had cut the Jayhawks’ lead to 35-33 with 1:15 to play and needed an onside kick and score to finish the improbable upset.

“I saw a confident look in our team. We practiced that onside kick over and over. It worked out just like we had planned it,” said head coach Gene Chizik.

In Grant Mahoney’s first onside attempt of his career, he perfectly placed the ball in the hands of Sedrick Johnson at the ISU 41-yard line.

“We work on those [onside kicks] a lot in practice, so I just tried to simulate it as best I could,” Mahoney said.

Kansas challenged the call on the field, citing that Johnson touched the ball before it traveled 10 yards. The call on the field was upheld and Iowa State had the ball at their own 41-yard line with 1:13 left in the game and two time-outs.

On first down, Arnaud looked for Houston Jones seven yards down the field, but the pass went right through Jones’ hands.

Arnaud looked back in Jones’ direction on the second down, but the ball was batted down at the line of scrimmage by Jake Laptad.

On third and 10, Arnaud threw a 10-yard slant pass at Sumrall which was dropped for the second time in three plays.

“The slant — I think I took my eyes off right before the ball came to try and run with it,” Sumrall said.

Even though the clock was stopped, Iowa State used its second time-out of the half to discuss their fourth and 10 play.

The Cyclones came out with four wideouts and Arnaud in the shotgun. The play, according to Arnaud, was for all the receivers to run straight down the field.

Kansas dropped back eight on the play and Arnaud looked for Sumrall one last time, as he streaked down the right side of the field past the corner and safety covering him.

As the pass came Sumrall’s way, he laid out in an attempt to make the miraculous catch, but the ball sailed off his outstretched fingers and came to a rest on the grass of Jack Trice Stadium.

“I wish I was two steps faster and I would have caught it,” Sumrall said.

The Cyclones had 1:13 to drive down the field, but after four straight incomplete passes the ball was back in the hands of Kansas.

“The last drive right there was pretty abysmal. We just couldn’t connect — we’re dropping balls, just really sloppy,” Chizik said.

Iowa State probably needed to gain 30 yards to get into field goal range, but the Cyclones failed to move the ball at all.

“If we weren’t able to score the touchdown, then I was ready to kick the game-winner through,” Mahoney said, whose longest career field goal was from 48-yards.

Even though the Cyclones played Kansas much closer than most people anticipated, the ISU coaching staff isn’t about to sell moral victories.

“Big-time players make plays when everything is on the line,” Chizik said. “When you have an opportunity to beat a ranked team and you got a minute and some to go down and get in field goal range and four plays to do it, somebody makes a play and we couldn’t get that done today.”