After three games where its offense exploded, the ISU football team used its opportunistic defense to take out No. 22 Colorado and keep its Big 12 North title hopes hanging by a thread.

The ISU defense forced three second-half turnovers, returning two of them for scores to hand the Buffaloes a 30-16 defeat.

“Some people might consider those lucky plays, but when you’re a good team you kind of create your own luck,” said receiver Todd Blythe. “By getting in the right position and having the guys that we do out there on defense, they come up with a lot of big plays for us.”

Steve Paris returned a Colorado fumble 66 yards in the third quarter to put the Cyclones up, 23-13, and Brent Curvey drove the final nail into the Buffaloes’ coffin with an interception for a score with less than two minutes to play.

“If we didn’t have Greedy [Paris] and Curvey make those plays, it’s overtime and we’re still playing,” quarterback Bret Meyer said.

The muddied Big 12 North picture has also begun to syphon out, with both Iowa State’s and Missouri’s title hopes resting on Colorado’s game against Nebraska.

With one game to play, Colorado still has control of the division. If they beat Nebraska on Nov. 25, they will win the North outright. But a loss provides both Iowa State and Missouri hope. But for the Cyclones to take the division, Missouri needs to lose its next game as well.

“We’re still in the hunt,” said coach Dan McCarney. “We have to take care of business with our last Big 12 game, and we need some help from a team that we lost to earlier this year in Nebraska.”

The Cyclones finish their regular season at Kansas, while Missouri plays its last game at Kansas State. Both the Cyclones and Tigers are 4-3 in Big 12 play, and Colorado is 5-2.

“We’re playing to get into a better bowl,” Meyer said. “We still have a chance, if we get some help, to get to Houston [for the Big 12 Championship game]. A lot of things are still out there for us. If we keep this winning streak going, good things can happen.”

The win moves the Cyclones to 7-3 on the season. All three losses have come in conference games, and all three were games Iowa State had a chance to win.

With a division title hanging in the balance, it’s hard not to think about what might have been.

Iowa State dropped its first three conference games before running off its current four-game win streak.

“I think about some plays I could have made,” Blythe said. “You really have to focus on what’s upcoming. That’s our view since we started winning and that’s going to continue to be our view.”

For Colorado, it was a chance to end the title chase once and for all.

“It’s hard to take,” said Colorado coach Gary Barnett. “So many things were out there for us – the ring was there, we just missed it. We failed to grab it.”

The Buffaloes still know the Big 12 North and a rematch with Texas in the Big 12 Championship game is there for the taking.

The Cyclones struggled on the ground, gaining just 36 yards on 25 carries. Running back Stevie Hicks could only muster 27 yards on the ground.

Iowa State was able to move the ball in the air, though, as Meyer passed for 251 yards.

The only offensive touchdown of the night came on a 27-yard end zone strike from Meyer to tight end Ben Barkema in the first quarter. The Cyclones got three field goals from Bret Culbertson.