LINCOLN, Neb. – ISU football coach Gene Chizik wanted to take chances, and on Saturday, he took a big one – but ended up a yard short.

Chizik’s Cyclones (1-4, 0-1 Big 12) had a 3-point lead over Nebraska, but failed to convert on a fourth-down fake punt attempt with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

No. 25 Nebraska (4-1, 1-0), then marched 82 yards downfield to take the lead and eventually win, 35-17, Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

“I think that would have really been a situation our football team would have fed off of,” Chizik said. “. If we could have gained the momentum of converting that. They made a great play on it.”

Instead, the momentum went to Nebraska. Cornhusker quarterback Sam Keller led his team on a 10-play scoring drive that ended with the senior finding junior fullback Thomas Lawson in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown pass and a 14-10 Nebraska lead.

“That’s college football,” said senior Cyclone linebacker Alvin Bowen. “Momentum. They made some plays when they needed them.”

The Cyclones were never able to regain the momentum they built in the first half. Iowa State took a 10-0 lead when running back Jason Scales scored on a 3-yard rush with 7:47 remaining in the second quarter. Scales, who finished the day with 115 yards on 31 carries, took the majority of the snaps at running back as junior J.J. Bass spent the entire game watching from the sidelines. Chizik, who had said Monday the running back was nursing an injured shoulder, said after the game that Bass was listed as day-to-day.

Even without Bass, the Cyclones rushed for 134 yards and led in virtually every offensive category. Iowa State led Nebraska in first downs, total offensive yards, third-down conversions and a school-record 102 offensive plays. Still, it was the Huskers who took their first conference win of the year.

“I don’t know if that’s ever even happened to me any time I’ve played,” Keller said. “That’s weird. It was just a weird game.”

Keller was on the sideline watching another ISU breakdown in special teams. Against Toledo last week, the Cyclones’ special teams allowed a kickoff to be returned for a touchdown and had a field-goal attempt blocked while dropping an 11-point lead. In the third quarter Saturday, Cornhusker Cortney Grixby cut through Cyclone defenders for a 51-yard punt return. Seven plays later, running back Marlon Lucky took a handoff from Keller before firing downfield to tight end Sean Hill for a 20-yard touchdown pass. It was a play, said ISU linebacker James Smith, they had prepared for all week in practice.

“Mentally, we should have been there, and it should have never even happened,” Smith said. “That’s on us.”

The Cyclones responded by moving the ball 44 yards intoNebraska territory. After Cornhusker linebacker Phillip Dillard broke up a pass by ISU quarterback Bret Meyer, Chizik sent his special teams on the field for a fake punt attempt. Cyclones kicker Mike Brandtner, who took the snap, ran out of bounds a yard short of the first-down marker.

“If we had made it, then we would have all looked great,” Chizik said. “We didn’t make it, so we all look bad. I understand that, but I was happy with the call, and we were just a yard short.”

Nebraska also took advantage of a disappointing four Cyclone turnovers.

“We value turnovers and the ability to make them and get off the field and not allow a team to score points,” said Nebraska coach Bill Callahan. “I think that was big.”

Three of those turnovers were interceptions thrown by Meyer, including one returned 93 yards for a touchdown by Bo Ruud in the third quarter.

“We just keep killing ourselves on drives,” Meyer said.

After leading so many categories, Chizik said it was the turnovers that doomed the Cyclones on Saturday.

“At the end of the day, the bottom line is, if you turn the ball over four times, no matter where they get the ball after you give it up, it’s really hard to win,” Chizik said.