Locked in a 35-35 tie with Missouri and 93 yards away from the end zone, Iowa State head coach Dan McCarney instilled one thing on his players’ minds.

Touchdown.

“The last time we came to the sideline, that’s what we told them: We do not want to go on the field for a field goal,” McCarney said.

“Let’s not take a chance on a bad snap, bad hold, block, anything like that. Let’s knock it in the end zone and try and ice the game.”

Having to go nearly the length of the field was one obstacle. The clock was another, with just 3:23 left in the game. McCarney said neither factor seemed to cause any panic among players or coaches.

“We felt very confident and we knew what the challenge was,” McCarney said. “It was a tie game and let’s go down there and ice it.”

Lane Danielsen, who led the Cyclones with 152 receiving yards on eight catches, said Seneca Wallace had few words for the offense in the first-down huddle.

“Seneca just came in, the first play, and said, ‘All right, boys, we’ve got to get it done. Here or never,’ ” Danielsen said.

Wallace took it himself on the first play, rushing out to his right for a seven-yard gain to the 14-yard line.

After finding Jamaul Montgomery for five more yards and a first down, running back Michael Wagner got the handoff, and churned his way up the middle for three tough yards.

Then it was Wallace again. He looked to pass first, but scrambled to his left as the pocket collapsed. The senior cut back to his right, picking up another first down, up to the 30-yard line.

Danielsen broke open in the middle of the field on the next play and Wallace hit him for an 18-yard gain, close to midfield.

After a five-yard catch by tight end Kyle Knock and another short yardage catch by Wagner, the Cyclones were faced with a critical third-down situation. The clock had dipped under two minutes by this point.

Wallace looked to pass on the play, needing four yards for a new set of downs, but saw a much better opportunity right in front of him.

“I saw nothing but grass,” Wallace said. “I didn’t want to make a mistake trying to force something, just try to make something happen with my feet.”

The shifty Wallace wowed the crowd as he broke to his right, shot through the gap and down the sideline. He cut back towards the middle of the field at the Missouri 38-yard line, eluding another defender all the way to the 13-yard line.

“He made some timely runs, some timely scrambles, and his accuracy was phenomenal,” McCarney said. “With exception of a couple throws, he was sensational.”

Two plays later it was Wallace again, breaking off the left side of the line and picking up a block to reach the 4-yard line with 54 seconds remaining.

Wagner took care of the rest, first picking up a first down on his 1-yard run.

After another run got down to the 1-yard line, he took advantage of a block by Zach Butler and broke through the left side of the line on his feet and into the end zone.

McCarney said the Cyclones were able to run the ball effectively on their last two touchdown drives, due in large part to good blocking up front.

“Our offensive line did a real good job,” McCarney said. “We didn’t see anything real different that Missouri was doing. I think we just did a better job of finishing our blocks, and our backs ran real hard.”

Wagner, who led the rushing attack with 79 yards on 20 carries, said nothing Wallace does surprises him anymore.

“He’s liable to do anything,” Wagner said. “Maybe the only thing he could do that would surprise me is to do a flip in the game or something like that.”