It’s first and goal from the five for Iowa State. The ball goes to Michael Wagner — not once, not even twice but three times.

On the first play, Wagner is hit with a 2-yard loss.

On the second, he rattles off a 4-yard gain to put the ball on the three.

And on third down and goal, the Cyclones go back to Wagner, who answers with a 1-yard run.

No touchdown.

No Seneca Wallace.

The Cyclones have to settle for an Adam Benike field goal, and the hapless Texas Tech defense earns the moral victory.

Why?

The Cyclones have the benefit of having one of the most efficient signal callers in the country in Wallace, but yet the ball goes to Wagner — a great player in his own right, but no Seneca Wallace — in eight of the first nine offensive plays of the game.

In fact, there were no passes thrown in the first series. Besides Wagner’s rushes, the only other play was a 16-yard scramble by Wallace for a first down.

Although I’m a big believer in establishing the run and wearing down the defense, where’s the mystery?

Where’s the excitement?

Fans came to see a big offensive game. They came to see Wallace and Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury — both Heisman Trophy candidates — put up big numbers. And instead they got a first half which ended in a 3-3 tie.

Kingsbury threw 23 times in the first half.

Wallace threw nine.

And even then, the first pass from Iowa State didn’t come until there was 6:18 left in the first quarter.

Wallace completes over 60 percent of his passes, leads the league in pass efficiency with a rating of 158.15 and has thrown for over 1,600 yards so far this season.

And yet, on first and goal, second and goal or even third and goal, he’s not given the ball?

Iowa State threw on first down only six times in the game.

They ran on first down 22 times.

Texas Tech passed 23 times on first down and ran 13.

If there’s such a thing as trying to establish the run too much, the Cyclones were guilty as charged.

Who knows, maybe it was an attempt to get all those alumni who came back for the game involved.

I bet you’d be hard-pressed to find a loyal ISU football follower who doesn’t remember, “up the middle, up the middle, up the middle, punt,” of the old Iowa State fame.

If ISU head coach Dan McCarney and his staff were trying to give fans a glimpse at the past, they succeeded.

The only thing that really puzzles me is McCarney’s reaction at halftime.

“We need to get the passing game going,” he said.

Note to the ISU coaching staff: A key component of “getting the passing game going” would be to actually pass.

It’s obvious to everyone by the 3-3 score that something wasn’t working in the offensive game plan.

Would it hurt to put the ball in the hands of one of the best college football players in the nation?

The country saw what Wallace could do against teams like Florida State and Iowa.

Was Texas Tech’s secondary so much better that ISU coaches didn’t think the passing game would be productive?

Or maybe the game plan was centered around the idea that Wallace wouldn’t be able to hurt his Heisman chances if he didn’t make mistakes. And you can’t make mistakes if you don’t have the ball in your hands.

Just some things to think about.

Emily Arthur is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Clark, S.D. She is the sports editor of the Daily.