The ISU football team took its first step in reaching its first ever appearance in the Big 12 Championship game, and what a step it was.

With the 34-27 win over Nebraska, Iowa State now holds its championship game fate in its own hands as it sits tied with Nebraska for first place in the North — holding the tie-breaker with the win.

The whole team can take credit in this win over Nebraska, but there are a few players who stand out.

What more can be said about Todd Blythe? The kid is a maniac on the field, catching eight balls for 188 yards and a touchdown. The redshirt freshman now holds the school record for most touchdown catches in a season, and there are still two games (four if you count a possible championship game and bowl game) remaining.

When it comes to ISU quarterbacks — as they say in the TV show “Pardon the Interruption” — it’s time to eat some crow. After slightly advocating for Austin Flynn all season long, the other quarterback on the team, Bret Meyer, passed for 345 yards on Saturday, and finally proved why he is the starter for the Cyclones.

Meyer looked like a senior on the field, making smart play after smart play (aside from his one interception).

Meyer rolled out when blitzed, which was often, and continually found the open man for the first down. On several plays, he found the open man deep and threw the ball away when the Nebraska defense didn’t give him anything.

Saturday’s game was a change of pace from the Kansas game, with the Cyclone offense struggling heavily with the running game.

Although Stevie Hicks did finish with a decent 69 yards, it was off 23 carries, giving him a 2.9 yard average — almost one yard less per carry than he averaged against Kansas the week before.

As for the ISU defense, it did enough to get the win. In a “bend but don’t break” type performance, the Cyclone defense came up with just enough big plays when it needed to in order to secure the victory.

But don’t think there aren’t things the defense will need to work on during the next week’s bye.

The pass defense was downright atrocious at times, with Nebraska quarterback Joe Dailey picking it apart.

This is not an accurate quarterback, but you don’t need to be when the Cyclone pass defense would choose to not cover a man sprinting down the field on several occasions.

The run defense shouldn’t have much to feel proud of either, as Nebraska running back Cory Ross made it look foolish on some plays, gathering 128 yards on only 19 runs.

It’s all right, though, because the Cyclone defense has carried the offense all season long, so it’s only fair to have the offense carry the defense for once.

Also, what else can be said about Iowa State’s special teams play? What was once its biggest liability is now its biggest asset, as blocked kicks seem to be coming in every game for the Cyclones now.

Kicker Bret Culbertson made both field goal attempts to cement his position as the Iowa State kicker. Tony Yelk who?

Let’s not kid ourselves, though, the biggest reason for Iowa State’s success was Nebraska’s offensive play calling.

After getting a huge win against Missouri last week by running the ball, Nebraska came out passing Saturday.

It was obvious the Cyclone defense was having trouble stopping the run, yet the ball was still put into Dailey’s hands play after play.

Dailey, an average-throwing quarterback, who at best is prone to interceptions, threw the ball 42 times, completing only 18 and eventually losing the game by throwing an interception on Nebraska’s final drive.

The most important thing, though, was that the Cyclones took what the Cornhuskers gave them.And what they gave Iowa State is first place in the Big 12 North.