Facing a fourth-and-three situation at the Colorado 24-yard line with 4:24 left, Cyclone coach Dan McCarney faced a decision that would have a major impact on his football team’s fortunes for the remainder of the year.

The Cyclones were down, 16-12. They had one time-out left, and although the defense had played well of late, it had still given up over 170 yards to the Buffaloes ground attack.

McCarney chose to kick a field goal. It went wide left, and when Colorado picked up two easy first downs, the Cyclones’ chances for postseason play took a turn south.

The 16-12 defeat left the Cyclones with a record of 4-3 for the year, meaning they will have to get at least two, and perhaps three more wins to qualify for their first bowl game since 1978.

“We are obviously very disappointed with the way the game turned out. We felt with the way our defense played and the way the offense moved the ball that we should have put some points on the board and won the game,” McCarney said.

The Cyclones certainly had their chances. After entering the second half trailing 16-12, the Cyclones came out with a solid drive that reached the Buffs’ 26 yard line.

They faced a key third-and-two, and Cyclone quarterback Sage Rosenfels rolled out and had five yards of open territory ahead of him. He saw J.J. Moses wide open in the flat and tried to hit him with a pass.

The ball bounced to him, and when ISU failed to convert the fourth down try, an opportunity was wasted.

After a Cyclone defensive stop, ISU got the ball at its own 19-yard line. Thanks largely to Darren Davis’ 56-yard run, the ‘Clones had a first-and-goal at the six-yard line.

Following a failed Davis run attempt and a run of one-yard by Rosenfels, the junior quarterback threw a pass into the end zone intended for Chris Anthony.

For the third time this season, Rosenfels’ pass was intercepted in the end zone, this time by Damen Wheeler.

“We ran a fade route to the end zone there, and Sage threw it up. We thought Chris could make the catch, but Wheeler made a real nice play,” McCarney said.

Colorado took over and drove to the Iowa State nine-yard line. The Cyclones, aided by a pair of holding calls, stood up strong on defense, and when Colorado quarterback Zac Colvin threw into the end zone, Dustin Avey was able to pick it off, and the Cyclones had new life.

“We were playing a zone defense there, and I realized that the guy in my area wasn’t a deep threat. So when I saw Atif [Austin] in single coverage with [Marcus] Stiggers, I came underneath to help him. I looked up, and the ball was right there,” Avey said.

Once again, the Cyclones mounted a charge, driving to midfield on the Colorado defense. Facing a third-and-three, Rosenfels again rolled out and again was intercepted, this time by All-American cornerback Ben Kelly.

“Kelly made a really nice play on that ball. He’s a great player, and we tried all day to throw away from him,” McCarney said.

The defense once again rose to the occasion and forced a punt, and the Cyclones took over the ball with 9:09 left in the game.

ISU, behind two big runs by Davis, found itself at the Buffaloes’ 29-yard line with a third-and-eight situation.

As has become customary on third and long, the Cyclones ran a draw play and Davis picked up the final five of his 172 yards on the day.

As boos cascaded down from Jack Trice Stadium, Mike McKnight ran on to the field.

The sophomore kicker who had nailed two field goals from 42 and 35 yards pushed the kick wide to the left. After the game, McCarney defended his decision.

“I felt really comfortable doing that. With the way Mike had been kicking and the way the defense had been playing, I thought if we could put this one through and get it back and put another one through, we’d have the game won. There was no reason to miss the kick, but he did,” McCarney said.

The first half was directly in contrast to the second stanza, as both teams were able to move the ball efficiently.

The Cyclones opened the scoring with two short field goals by McKnight in the first quarter.

When Colorado was able to work with the 23 mph gusting wind in the second quarter, they moved the ball at will, scoring 16 points.

Jeremy Aldrich bounced a 45-yard field goal off the left crossbar to get Colorado on the board.

After the Cyclones failed on offense, Colorado drove 41 yards in six plays capped by a four-yard run by Cortlen Johnson who finished the game with 185 yards on 31 carries.

After that, Iowa State mounted a beautiful drive of 60 yards in six plays with J.J. Moses catching a 21-yard touchdown pass from Rosenfels with 1:14 left on the clock.

After a false start penalty on the extra point, McKnight had the kick bounce off the right crossbar and out, and the Cyclone lead was 12-10.

Colorado then moved down the field with tremendous execution and little resistance, driving 49 yards in five plays, capped by a Colvin to Daniel Graham touchdown connection of six yards. Colvin, subbing for injured Colorado starter Mike Moschetti, filled in admirably, completing 14 of 23 passes for 116 yards. The Buffs then went for two points but were unsuccessful.

“I’m not sure what happened on that last drive before the half. They got real good field position because we didn’t get the kick we wanted, and then we just got back on our heels,” McCarney said.

The Cyclones will have to find a way to get balanced before the Texas Longhorns come into town on Saturday if they want any chance at a postseason berth.

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He said it…

Coach Gary Barnett of the Buffaloes comments on the ISU decision to kick a field goal on fourth-and-three with only 4:24 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“Yes, I was surprised. I was very surprised. I’m not in Mac’s shoes, but they weren’t having a lot of trouble converting third downs. I was sure they were going to go for it. I was just positive. And when they ran those guys out, I knew it had to be a fake.”

—Gary Barnett

head coach, Colorado