Iowa State’s defense had no answer for the Texas passing attack Saturday and, with the Cyclones’ own offense struggling, the game snowballed into one of the worst defeats ever at Jack Trice Stadium.

The 56-3 defeat at the hands of the Longhorns was the worst home defeat for the Cyclones since a 1987 loss to Oklahoma by the same margin, with only to a 57-3 loss to then-No. 3 Iowa in 1985 being the worst loss ever inside Jack Trice Stadium.

The Cyclones allowed Texas quarterback Colt McCoy to gain 298 yards on 23-of-30 passing for four touchdowns, including a 58-yard touchdown pass on the Longhorns’ first offensive play of the game. ISU coach Gene Chizik said the play was representative of how the defense would play for the rest of the game.

“Defensively, we couldn’t ever get off the field,” Chizik said. “Colt McCoy had a great day. He’s a great player. Other than [the pass defense] being nonexistent, I just thought we did a poor job starting out with coaching and starting with me.

“We had some pass rush on Colt; he got out of a lot of things. I just thought today, on defense, we didn’t show up. We weren’t even in the ballpark in my opinion.”

McCoy made several plays, including that first touchdown pass, in which he evaded tacklers and bought time with his legs after the Cyclones pressured him, including a 44-yard touchdown run on a play in which he was nearly sacked.

“We just weren’t fundamentally sound,” ISU linebacker Alvin Bowen said. “[Our plan for McCoy was] like a normal quarterback. Get pressure on him, force him to make some ill-advised throws and make plays on him. We knew, if he scrambled, he would still look upfield for another receiver. Texas [and McCoy] really didn’t do anything we weren’t prepared for. We just didn’t capitalize.”

McCoy completed more than 76 percent of his passes, highlighting another problem for the Cyclones. Iowa State has allowed opponents to complete 71 percent of their passes, giving the Cyclones the worst such percentage in the country.

“We have athletes, just like every other school we play has athletes,” Bowen said. “We have athletes to make plays, but athletes need to make those plays, though.

“We’re not inventing the wheel, we’re not doing anything scientific or anything big or major. We’re playing football, and people need to realize that and step up and make plays.”

This comes one week after the Cyclones let Texas Tech to complete more than 81 percent of its passes after a 40-of-49 effort from Graham Harrell and Taylor Potts, leading Chizik to think the team has regressed to earlier mistakes.

“I think that the last two weeks we have [taken steps back],” Chizik said. “At this point in time, again, more so than ever, we’re trying to look at very small victories and gain some momentum from those, and we have very few to build on right now.

“I know our kids and I know our coaching staff, and they’re not going to see me change. I’m going to keep coaching the same way I’ve been coaching and try to get better, and I expect them to do the same thing when we go out to prepare this week.”