DEKALB, Ill. — Iowa State’s first road trip of the season promised a chance to rebound from a loss to Iowa, to end a 13-year streak without a road win over a ranked team, to hand No. 20 Northern Illinois its first loss of the season and to restore confidence in its offensive and special teams units before a date with No. 1 Oklahoma in Jack Trice Stadium Oct. 4.

Instead, the Cyclones came home with a blown fourth-quarter lead and a 24-16 defeat, a 2-2 non-conference record and injuries to two of their top players.

The Cyclones led, 16-14, early in the fourth quarter on a 26-yard field goal by Adam Benike, but the undefeated Huskies picked up their third home victory of the season by scoring the last 10 points and forcing turnovers on the Cyclones’ last two possessions.

Senior tailback Hiawatha Rutland injured his knee after catching an 18-yard pass on the final play of the first quarter. ISU head coach Dan McCarney said Rutland will likely miss the rest of the season.

“That’s a big blow for us,” ISU quarterback Austin Flynn said. “It’s unfortunate.”

Iowa State’s best defensive player, senior defensive tackle Jordan Carstens, went down with a leg injury late in the fourth quarter. The extent of Carstens’ injury is uncertain, although McCarney said it was not as serious as Rutland’s.

Flynn was 16-of-33 passing for 182 yards but threw two crucial interceptions.

Leading 7-0 and facing a third-down play early in the second quarter on the Northern Illinois 16-yard line, Flynn took a shotgun snap and tried to throw a short lateral pass to tailback Michael Wagner. But Flynn didn’t account for 6-foot-1, 240-pound defensive end Vinson Reynolds, who leaped to snare Flynn’s flip out of the air and then raced to the ISU 13-yard line before Flynn and Wagner could bring him down.

Huskie tailback Michael Turner, who became Northern Illinois’ all-time leading rusher after a 30-carry, 134-yard afternoon, scored three plays later on a 2-yard run to tie the game.

“It was a huge play,” McCarney said. “It felt like Northern Illinois made a few more plays, a few less mistakes, and they were able to come back and win the game in the fourth quarter.”

Benike was 3-of-4 on field goals for Iowa State, which outgained the Huskies 355-334 but managed just one touchdown — on its opening drive — on five trips inside the Huskie 20-yard line.

ISU players weren’t sure why they struggled to convert long drives and turnovers into points.

“I don’t know if they sent more people or what,” said senior offensive lineman Bob Montgomery, who saw his first action of the season after recovering from a foot injury he sustained in fall drills. “People not making plays, I guess.”

Northern Illinois took a 14-10 lead into halftime on the strength of a diving 38-yard touchdown catch by flankerback Dan Sheldon off of a perfect throw by quarterback Josh Haldi.

After Iowa State settled for field goals on two second-half drives and took the lead, the Huskies took control behind Turner.

He carried three straight times after the Cyclones went on top 16-14 and gained 22 yards, moving the ball into ISU territory. Steve Azar’s 29-yard field goal put the Huskies up 17-16 with 7:45 remaining.

Iowa State drove to midfield on its next possession, but Flynn was hit from behind as he threw a fluttering pass on second-and-11. Safety Akil Grant easily picked off the pass, and Northern Illinois effectively put the game away with a 9-play, 49-yard drive, capped by a 9-yard pass from Haldi to wide receiver P.J. Fleck to give Northern Illinois an eight-point lead with less than two minutes left.

Flynn was sacked twice and threw two incompletions before the Huskies ran out the clock.

Junior linebacker Brandon Brown led the Cyclones defensively with 11 tackles, including three for loss.

Northern Illinois, 4-0 heading into Mid-American Conference play, has now defeated teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (Maryland), Southeastern Conference (Alabama) and Big 12 Conference.

“I knew we had a good football team in August,” Huskie coach Joe Novak said. “In my wildest dreams, I didn’t think we’d be 4-0 at this point.”