It’s a good time for a bye week.

With two weeks off before the ISU football team travels to Kansas State, an off week gives the Cyclones something they need right now — time.

Time to cope with the loss of senior linebacker Brandon Brown, whose ISU career is over, head coach Dan McCarney said in Monday’s Big 12 coaches teleconference. Brown tore an ankle ligament in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over Nebraska.

“Hopefully he’ll be able to come back and play some football in his career, but it won’t be for Iowa State,” McCarney said. “He had surgery [Sunday], and they had to put a pin in to keep it in place. It’s a really sad thing for Brandon; we’re really appreciative of what he gave to this program in his career.”

Time allows Brown’s replacement, junior Jamarr Buchanan, to get ready to be a starter.

“Jamarr Buchanan is a former walk-on that we put on scholarship last year,” McCarney said. “He’s gotten some real valuable playing time coming off the bench, and he’ll be our starter at Kansas State.”

Time will help heal defensive end Tyson Smith, who sat out Saturday’s game after spraining his knee in last week’s practice.

“It’s just day-to-day; there was no surgery, which is great — that always helps the possibilities of coming back from a sprained knee,” McCarney said. “We’ll know later in the week if he has a chance to come back for Kansas State.”

Time provides rest for McCarney’s team to get rested after reeling off three straight conference wins that the Cyclones won by a total of only 14 points.

“It’s important that we get some rest for these kids — we’ve squeezed about every ounce of energy and effort they could possibly give us in recent weeks,” McCarney said. “We’ll get them some rest, and hopefully they’ll get caught up or stay ahead in their schoolwork.”

Time gives former Nebraska offensive coordinator Barney Cotton, who was fired by the Cornhuskers last year, to savor his young Cyclones’ 34-point offensive explosion against his former team.

“Really we were ecstatic with the victory,” McCarney said. “I told [Barney] how proud I was of him and what a great addition he is to this program. He’s a marvelous addition to the Iowa State family.”

Time also allows for the Cyclones to prepare for Kansas State, a team that has more than outplayed Iowa State in the Dan McCarney era. In McCarney’s nine tries against the Wildcats, he’s been outscored 400-85 with no wins.

“We’ll look forward to playing an outstanding Kansas State team who has clearly dominated Iowa State throughout the years,” McCarney said.

But perhaps most importantly, the bye week gives the Cyclones time to reflect. To reflect on an accomplishment that no one gave them a chance to do before the season started — with only two games to go in the season, Iowa State sits atop the Big 12 North at 3-3 in the conference with control of its own destiny.

“We know we’ve got two unbelievably tough challenges ahead of us to finish this Big 12 season, but there is a real positive air around this football team right now,” McCarney said.

“It’s always fun to go beyond, and hopefully we’ll have a chance to go way beyond what anybody expected us to do before the season.”