For 70 minutes during Texas’ bout with Iowa State, Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium looked like a ghost town.

There was not a body to be found in the stands. Debris tossed around in the wind like tumbleweed.

A throng of lightning bolts and eventual thunderstorms interrupted the game at the end of the third quarter. The suspension was only delaying the inevitable.

Quarterback Colt McCoy had his most productive day through the air as a Longhorn, and Texas’ defense consistently found itself in the ISU backfield on its way to a 37-14 victory to open conference play.

It was the Longhorns 16th consecutive Big 12 victory, which eclipsed Kansas State’s record from 1997-98 to become a conference record.

“I think this team is very consistent and this was a big win for us,” receiver Limas Sweed said. “Wins are so hard to come by and every one we get, we definitely appreciate it.”

At the start of the fourth quarter, officials sent both teams to their locker rooms, where the Longhorns rested, strategized and apparently confused themselves.

“I didn’t know how to act. I didn’t know if we were supposed to chill or get fired up,” said linebacker Robert Killebrew.

Added McCoy: “It was weird; I’d never been through a delay like that.”

It was the second time a game at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium had been suspended by weather, with the first in 1996 against Missouri.

“We figured they had 15 minutes to go out and score a lot of points to beat us,” said defensive end Tim Crowder. “We stayed focused and kept in it.”

Texas kept in it, in every facet of the game.

The Longhorns defense held the Cyclones scoreless in the second half because of, in large part, the 7.5 sacks it put on ISU quarterback Bret Meyer: the most he has ever been sacked in one game. Crowder and Rashad Bobino each had a pair.

Texas held Iowa State to 21 yards rushing on 27 carries and also collected its first two interceptions of the season. Texas was one of only seven teams without an interception in Division 1A before Saturday.

“They have one of the best defenses in college football,” said ISU coach Dan McCarney. “We are disappointed we did not score more points today, but it is relative because we were up against one of the best defenses in the country. They are the real deal.”

Offensively, Texas was just as dominant. McCoy finished with 212 yards on 18-of-23 passing with an interception and a fumble. Sweed had 106 yards receiving.

It looked as though the Longhorns were going to make quick work of the Cyclones before the midway point of the first quarter, as they built a 16-0 lead on touchdown runs from Jamaal Charles and Selvin Young.

Texas also got some help from ISU deep snapper Matt Purvis, who launched the ball into the end zone and out of bounds for a safety with 10 minutes, 52 seconds left in the first quarter.

With their backs against the wall, though, the Cyclones put together two quick scoring drives to make the score 16-14 early in the second.

Meyer threw a 5-yard shuffle pass to tight end Walter Nickel for the first score. A McCoy interception set up Iowa State’s second score when Meyer connected with roommate Todd Blythe from 6 yards out.

“This game scared me to death because of Bret Meyer,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.

But that’s where the momentum shifted back and remained with the Longhorns.

“Texas always had an answer for every positive thing we did,” McCarney said.

On the Longhorns ensuing possession, McCoy redeemed himself with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Sweed, whose seven receptions were one shy of his career high that came against USC in the Rose Bowl.

With 5:50 left in the half, things got as dark as the sky for the Longhorns defense when it appeared that Brian Robison got leg-whipped in the left knee by an ISU offensive lineman. Robison lay on the field for a few moments before he was carted off the field.

“When he went down, we said ‘It’s personal,'” Bobino said. “That just gave me the fight of a lion.”

The Longhorns feasted on the Cyclones from that point forward. After forcing a punt, Texas drove 75 yards before Henry Melton rolled into the end zone from 1 yard out to make the score 30-14 at halftime.

The only points of the second half came on a 10-yard McCoy pass to Jermichael Finley, who literally took the ball away from Cyclones free safety Brandon Hunley.