Senior day is a day when seniors dread seeing the clock reach 00:00 – those numbers signal the last time they will ever play in front of the home crowd.

Ironically, in the waning moments of Saturday’s hectic finish to Iowa State’s battle with Colorado, senior Todd Blythe was pleading with the clock to expire.

“I was just sitting there down on a knee right next to Milan [Moses] just kind of watching things and praying that either he didn’t get it off in time, which he didn’t, or second off that he’d miss it,” Blythe said. “And he actually made both of them, but luckily neither of them counted.”

All the praying paid off, because if either of Colorado kicker Kevin Eberhart’s attempts from 50 and then 55 yards that went through the uprights as time expired had been validated by the referees, it would have tied the game and spoiled Iowa State’s 31-28 comeback victory.

With all the confusion that plagued the game’s final seconds, what almost went forgotten was Iowa State’s comeback from a 21-point halftime deficit – a comeback that saw Blythe contribute a whole lot more than just his prayer.

The first half for the Cyclones (3-8, 2-5 Big 12) was a disaster that saw the team surrender 14 points in the half’s final 3:04 to put Iowa State in a 21-0 hole. Colorado (5-6, 3-4 Big 12) got the ball coming out of the half, only to see the momentum swing and its lead disappear.

Facing a fourth and one from his own 43-yard line, Colorado coach Dan Hawkins made a curious decision to go for the first down despite the lead.

The Cyclones stopped Colorado short, gained momentum, and from that point on spent the rest of the third quarter erasing the 21-point hole with three touchdowns.

“We didn’t look good, we didn’t play good, we didn’t coach good – there was nothing good about the first half, and there was no reason for the fans to stay and they stayed,” Chizik said. “We made a play on fourth down, then [the fans] got into it, then we scored, then they got into it more, and then everything just got rolling. It was a game of momentum swings, and again they were a big reason.”

Alexander Robinson took the Cyclones in for a touchdown after the fourth-down stop, and then for a story line fit only for Senior Day, Blythe and quarterback Bret Meyer took over when Iowa State needed it most.

After a Colorado three and out, Meyer hooked up with Blythe on receptions of 20 and 37 yards, and capped the drive with a 12-yard touchdown to cut the Buffaloes’ lead to seven points.

Then after another three and out by Colorado, Meyer connected with Blythe on a 55-yard touchdown bomb to tie the game.

“Players have to make plays on game day, and at that point in time we just felt that we were going to put it in the hands of the guys [Blythe and Meyer] that have made some plays and see if we couldn’t spark it some,” Chizik said. “They did it, and I think the crowd fed off it, and from there it just started and continued to grow.”

All week Cyclone coaches had preached that this game was for the seniors, and when the Cyclones trailed by 21 points, Chizik sparked his players with a stern intermission speech.

“We won’t say what the halftime talk was about, but it really fired us up,” senior kicker Bret Culbertson said with a smile.

A Culbertson fourth-quarter field goal put the Cyclones up 24-21, and Robinson, who ended the day with 127 yards, punched in Iowa State’s final points with his second touchdown of the day.

Meyer ended the day with 149 yards passing and two touchdowns, while Blythe had four catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns. The 100-yard performance by Blythe was the eighth of his career.

“I told Chizik it doesn’t actually happen that every time we win, people rush the field, but it sure seems like it this year, because all three times we have been swarmed with people,” Blythe said. “But that’s why it’s a lot of fun, and as a senior, to go out with a win, I didn’t really want to leave the field that bad because I knew it was my last time playing on it.”

It was the 27th time that Blythe hauled in a Meyer pass for a touchdown, and the last of its kind that Cyclone fans will see at home.