It was a chance at history, and Iowa State let it slip away.

The Cyclones couldn’t hold on to a 7-point halftime lead over the No. 5 (7-1, 3-1 Big 12) Oklahoma Sooners and lost, 17-7, on Saturday, missing several opportunities and having six drives stall on the Oklahoma side of the field. A win would have marked the Cyclones’ first victory over a top-five opponent.

“We missed out on something,” said sophomore defensive back Allen Bell. “We could have done something real big. We could have shocked the nation, but we let it slip away.”

Instead, the Cyclones (1-7, 0-4) dropped their fifth-straight game and let a number of scoring opportunities get away from them. Iowa State finished the game 1-for-4 in red-zone opportunities and missed out on chances to build on a lead or tie the game. Junior running back Jason Scales scored the Cyclones’ only touchdown with a 2-yard run in the first quarter.

Down by 7, Iowa State launched a drive late in the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-one from the Oklahoma 8-yard line, senior quarterback Bret Meyer scrambled to the Oklahoma 6-yard line for a first down. Two plays later, Meyer tried completing a pass to junior wide receiver R.J. Sumrall, but it was tipped by linebacker Curtis Lofton and intercepted by defensive back D.J. Wolfe in the end zone.

“It was a little play action down there trying to get linebackers to bite up and hit the slants right behind them in the back of the end zone,” said ISU coach Gene Chizik. “The defensive lineman made a great play and batted the ball up and they got a turnover off of it. It was a good play by them.”

Senior kicker Bret Culbertson missed a 36-yard field goal attempt with 4:20 remaining in the first half. Culbertson’s kick would have been a 10-0 Cyclones lead.

Iowa State let another first-half opportunity get away when Bell intercepted a pass from Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford. Bell returned the pass 26 yards before being pushed out of bounds by a group of Sooner players on Oklahoma’s 18-yard line.

“I wanted to score so bad on that play,” Bell said. “[I was] very disappointed I didn’t get in the end zone.”

Bell’s interception went to waste as the Cyclones’ scoring drive ended on the Oklahoma 11-yard line when Scales failed to convert a fourth-down attempt with 1 yard to go. Scales was brought down behind the line for a 2-yard loss.

“I felt like we should have been up by more than 7 at halftime,” Chizik said. “I thought that was huge in creating momentum, and we just didn’t do it.

The Sooners had no troubles in the red zone, completing on all three of their attempts. Oklahoma sophomore running back Chris Brown ran for touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters.

The Cyclones’ offense, which generated 269 total yards, had drives end on Oklahoma’s 49, 18, 11, 38, 6 and 38. On four occasions, Chizik elected to go for it on fourth down, completing two of those attempts. The first-year coach said the decisions were not based on Culbertson’s inability to make field goals – he’s made only eight of 15 attempts this season.

“We’ll kick field goals when we think we can make them,” he said.

The Cyclones’ defense, which allowed 56 points to Texas the week before, held the Sooners’ offense scoreless in the first half.

Still, Bell sees Saturday’s game as a missed opportunity at history.

“We had this one in our hands,” Bell said. “We kind of let it slide away. It’s disappointing because we were so close to the win. We had them on the ropes – we just couldn’t get the knockout blows that we wanted.”