Iowa State proved they could play with the best in the nation for three quarters of Saturday’s showdown with Nebraska. The only problem was that the Huskers dominated the fourth quarter and came away with a 49-27 victory.

The Huskers entered the fourth quarter with a slim lead of 21-20 but broke the game open with two touchdowns in just over one minute. The Huskers improved to 5-0 while the Cyclones suffered their first defeat of the season and fall to 4-1.

“We played a lot more good snaps against Nebraska than we ever have in the past,” said ISU Head Coach Dan McCarney. “We went into this football game trying to win and close the gap, not to just be respected. We weren’t able to do it.”

The Huskers went ahead 28-20 on a 9-yard touchdown run by fullback Willie Miller and got the ball right back after the kickoff on an interception. Correll Buckhalter scored his second short touchdown run three plays later and gave the Huskers some breathing room.

“That’s what can happen when you play a real quality team like Nebraska,” McCarney said. “They can really put up points in a hurry and obviously they did that. I thought our defense was outstanding in the first half but it wasn’t in the second half.”

Cyclone quarterback Sage Rosenfels turned in another big effort with 346 yards passing and two touchdowns. Rosenfels put the Cyclones ahead 7-0 early in the game with a 53-yard touchdown strike to Chris Campbell.

The Cyclone running game was held to just 37 yards on 25 carries. A week after racking up 241 yards against Baylor, ISU tailback Ennis Haywood totaled just 27 yards on 11 carries.

The Cyclones are back in action next Saturday night at Oklahoma State. Kickoff in Stillwater is set for 7 p.m.