BOULDER, Colo. — For the 16th time in the Dan McCarney era, the Iowa State Cyclones went in to a Big 12 road game with the idea of coming out with a win.

And for the 16th straight time, they were defeated.

The latest in a string of conference road losses, which has now reached 28 in a row, came at the hands of the Colorado Buffaloes, who used a number of big plays and superior line play to overtake the Cyclones 37-8.

“[Colorado] has a good physical offensive line, and they out-toughed us up front; there’s no doubt about it,” McCarney said.

The game began with an inauspicious start for ISU, as CU wide receiver Marcus Stiggers took a reverse 52 yards all the way to the Cyclone 28 yard line.

ISU fans may remember that play as the same one Colorado scored a pivotal touchdown on in their 43-38 comeback victory a year ago.

The Buffs made it all the way to the seven yard line before the defense stiffened, and Jay Aldrich kicked a 24-yard field goal to give Colorado an early 3-0 lead.

After ISU went three-and-out, the Buffs easily drove 74 yards in 11 plays for the score. The drive was capped by Marlon Barnes diving over from a yard out to give CU a 9-0 lead, which would hold, as Aldrich missed the extra point.

Another fruitless Cyclone possession gave way to another solid drive by Colorado. They marched with machine-like precision all the way down to the ISU six before quarterback Mike Moschetti fumbled the ball, and when Reggie Hayward recovered, it appeared as though the Cyclones might have some momentum.

The offense quickly stifled that notion by gaining one yard over the next three plays, and Carl Gomez was called on to punt.

After both defenses held, the Buffs made their first of three big plays that led to the demise of the Cyclones on a gorgeous day in Boulder.

The Cyclone defense was starting to play better, and had the Buffs backed up on their own 11 yard line with a first-and-20 when things began to unravel.

Barnes ran a draw play for 15, and when Ab Turner was charged with a personal foul, the Buffs had climbed out of the hole and were on their own 41.

Two plays later, Moschetti dropped back to pass, and under a heavy rush, lofted a screen to wide receiver Javon Green. After making a beautiful leaping catch on the slightly overthrown ball, he was never impeded on the way to a 61 yard romp into the end zone to give CU a 16-0 lead.

The next big play occurred only a little over two minutes after the touchdown by Green.

After another fruitless possession by the ISU offense, Ben Kelly fielded a Gomez punt at his own 24, and proceeded to zig, zag, and spin his way to a beautiful 76- yard punt return that gave the Buffs a 23-0 lead which they would hold at intermission.

The stats clearly displayed the complete domination of the half. Colorado outgained ISU 313-66, and the Cyclones managed only 11 yards on 13 carries in the stanza.

The deepest penetration that they made into Colorado territory was the 41 yard line, which was followed immediately by a punt.

The second half began in much the same fashion as the first, as unimaginative play-calling and uninspired play were evident.

The most glaring of all the ridiculous calls in a game which saw many came on a third-and-10 at ISU’s own 23 yard line in their first possession of the half.

The call from Offensive Coordinator Pete Hoener was a draw to Joe Parmentier, who’s longest career rush is nine yards.

The play netted one yard, and Carl Gomez continued to be the hardest working man on ISU by logging his seventh punt of the short afternoon.

The next 18 minutes were controlled by the Cyclones, as the defense began to play very well, and the offense started to move the football.

After a CU punt, the Cyclones took over at the Colorado 46 with fan favorite Ennis Haywood seeing his first action of the afternoon.

The ‘Clones drove all the way down to the 20 via the solid running of Haywood and a short passing attack that has seen its share of problems this year.

However, with a first and ten at the CU 22, quarterback Todd Bandhauer threw an ill-advised pass to the corner of the end zone that was picked off by Cyclone nemesis Ben Kelly.

The defense held again, and ISU took over at their own 26 yard line.

They then drove 76 yards for a score on a drive which included three first downs achieved by Colorado penalties.

Bandhauer punched it in himself from a yard out with 0:24 left in the third quarter, and when J.J. Moses ran in the two-point conversion, the CU lead was cut to 15 at 23-8.

The defense stepped up big once again, and ISU got the ball back and was driving for another score when perhaps the biggest play of the game occurred.

Facing a 4th-and-1 at the Colorado 22 yard line, Ennis Haywood got the call on a run up the middle, and was stuffed for no gain on the play.

“The safety had moved up on that play and filled the hole, and it didn’t happen the way we wanted it to,” Haywood said.

“That was the turning point. That was the nail in the coffin, I think,” Bandhauer said.

After an exchange of punts, any doubt that was left about the outcome was extinguished by Marlon Barnes, who had a career day with 237 yards and two scores.

“Barnes is a great back. He’s a senior playing his last home game, and I’m sure he was fired up because of that,” McCarney said.

“They surprised me with their running game. I thought they were going to pass a lot more, but they came out running most of the time,” Cyclone defensive lineman James Reed said.

With 8:42 left and the Buffs at their own 36, Barnes took a hand-off, eluded a Kemp Knighten tackle, and scooted 64 yards for the score.

“We were in a run blitz call, we missed a tackle and they executed a great play and kind of broke our back,” McCarney said.

After Bandhauer’s second interception of the day and 19th of the season, Colorado drove the length of the field. As they were about to punch in their final score of the game, an ugly game got uglier for ISU.

Junior cornerback Jamarcus Powers locked up with a Colorado player after the play, and took a swing at the opponent. That merited a 15-yard penalty. When he took his helmet off and slammed it to the turf, his day was over. On his way off the field, he had to be restrained from heading into the stands to take on one of his detractors.

“That is inexcusable, it will not be tolerated. It better not happen again. If it continues, he won’t be on this team,” McCarney said.

“I don’t condone it. This team is centered around class, and I hope we continue to play with the kind of class that we’ve played with in the past,” Bandhauer said.

The next play saw Miles Koon recover a Barnes fumble in the end zone. The day’s action was complete with Colorado taking a 37-8 victory.

The Cyclones will try to salvage a three-win campaign against Kansas on Saturday at Jack Trice Field.