MANHATTAN, Kan. — Fifteen minutes.

That’s all the time Iowa State needed to score 28 points in Manhattan on Saturday.

Down 23-9 in the fourth quarter to Kansas State, the Cyclones erased that deficit with their biggest final-quarter scoring explosion since 1983 to take down the Wildcats 37-23.

“We just told the kids to keep believing, and we’re going to find a way,” said ISU head coach Dan McCarney.

The Cyclone offense was powered by sophomore Stevie Hicks’ career-high 156 rushing yards, 49 of which came in the final quarter, along with his only touchdown.

“When we get behind, we start to play harder,” Hicks said. “We are playing for each other and we have to look each other in the eye.”

But to have a great comeback, you have to be down, and the Cyclones looked that way for 45 minutes.

The Cyclones took their first lead in Manhattan since 1990 with a Bret Culbertson field goal halfway through the first quarter, but that was quickly matched by a 51-yard Joe Rheem kick to tie the score at 3 with 3:55 to go in the first.

The score remained deadlocked after Culbertson missed a 36-yard attempt early in the second quarter, his first miss of the season.

“I had one miss; I have to put it behind me,” Culbertson said. “I have some kinks to work out, but I felt pretty good.”

The game’s first touchdown finally came when Wildcat quarterback Allen Webb ran in for a score with 5:30 remaining in the half. An Ellis Hobbs interception in the last minute of the half allowed Culbertson to tack on another field goal, making the score 10-6 at halftime.

Things continued to look bleak for the Cyclones as Kansas State running back Darren Sproles started to heat up. On the opening drive of the second half, Sproles scooted 41 yards to give the Wildcats a 17-6 lead. In Satuday’s game, Sproles became the 10th leading all-time rusher in NCAA history with 4,979 yards.

But that was really all Sproles would do for the rest of the game.

Culbertson hit another field goal, but Webb negated that with another touchdown run at the 14:17 mark in the fourth quarter. Nik Moser blocked Rheem’s extra point attempt to make the score 23-9.

And then the Cyclones woke up.

On the ensuing drive, freshman quarterback Bret Meyer picked apart the Kansas State defense with his hands and his feet, capping off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, bringing the Cyclones within seven.

After getting the ball back with under five minutes to go, the Cyclones seemed to have one last chance to tie the score. On a first-and-10, Meyer completed a 51-yard pass to Todd Blythe, putting the Cyclones on the Kansas State nine-yard line.

“We didn’t even have that play; the coaches came up with it,” Blythe said. “We actually had to write it on Bret’s play card on his arm; it really wasn’t a play we had in the playbook.”

Two plays later, Todd Miller snagged his first career touchdown catch to tie the score at 23.

But the Cyclones weren’t done. On the Wildcats’ next possession, Cephus Johnson forced a Webb fumble on the Kansas State 35 that was recovered by linebacker Tim Dobbins. Two plays later, Hicks gave the Cyclones the lead with a 20-yard touchdown run.

“The wins are starting to count more now, so that touchdown was probably the most meaningful one I’ve ever had,” Hicks said.

Iowa State added an insurance score when LaMarcus Hicks intercepted a deflected pass with 1:28 remaining and took it 40 yards into the end zone.

Maybe the Cyclones should play from behind all the time — Meyer said he likes it.

“For me, it’s almost easier to play in that kind of offense, because you really have nothing to lose,” Meyer said. “I welcome the chance to play like that.”

This was McCarney’s first ever victory against Kansas State as Iowa State’s head coach. In his previous nine tries, he’d been outscored 400-85. He now has at least one career victory against every Big 12 North team.

“It has been a long, hard trip to try to get a victory against Kansas State,” McCarney said. “It’s just an unbelievable show of courage and resolve in the fourth quarter by my football team.”

Meyer finished the game with 234 yards passing and one touchdown and then made known his feelings about his team and coach.

“You just keep believing, keep playing together and keep playing with each other, and good things like this can happen,” Meyer said. “Coach [McCarney] gets my vote for coach of the year.

And that fourth-quarter comeback in 1983? A 49-27 win over Kansas State.