For the tenth time in Head Coach Dan McCarney’s 34-game Iowa State tenure, the Cyclones took a lead late into a football game, only to watch it evaporate in a few short plays.

Iowa State led the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs 21-14 entering the final quarter of play, but 15 minutes and 17 unanswered points later, the Cyclones were struggling to explain another tough loss.

“Obviously, I can’t put into words the disappointment we feel as a coaching staff and as a team right now,” McCarney said shortly after the game.

“As a team, we’ve got to look on the inside,” senior linebacker Kip King added. “We need to look inside ourselves and find something more for that third and fourth quarter.”

That fourth quarter in particular has not been kind to Iowa State.

In 1997, the Cyclones were outscored 113-52 in the last 15 minutes of their 11 contests. Half of Iowa State’s losses the last several years have come as a result of poor play late in the game.

On Saturday, it was tailback Basil Mitchell who exploited the Cyclones late.

Mitchell, who had only three rushing touchdowns all of last year, picked up the same number on Saturday, all on identical option plays to the left side.

Mitchell’s first two touchdown runs, for 30 and 29 yards respectively, tied the game at 14 with 6:35 remaining in the third and then at 21 with 12:17 to go in the fourth. His final score, at the 5:48 mark, put the Horned Frogs ahead for the first time in the second half. It was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“We knew they were going to run [the option] a lot,” McCarney said, but he pointed out that simulating another team’s offense in practice doesn’t always get your defense completely prepared.

“We had some responsibility problems and some missed tackles,” he said.

A field goal with three minutes remaining was just icing on the cake for TCU. The three-spot came after a 44-yard interception return of a Todd Bandhauer pass by Texas Christian defensive back Reggie Hunt.

Todd didn’t beat around the bush after the game.

“It sucks,” Bandhauer said. “That’s all I can say about it. It just sucks. You gotta win the game in the fourth quarter and we didn’t.”

Bandhauer passed well for all but the final six minutes of the game, in which he completed only 2-of-12 passes for 20 yards and two interceptions. On the day, Todd was 22-of-45 for 268 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 INTs.

Bandhauer’s counterpart in the Horned Frog huddle, former wideout Patrick Batteaux, completed only four passes on the day for 49 yards, but rushed for 83 yards against a Cyclone defense which still appears soft against the run.

“Today, we made a lot of mistakes,” King said. “We weren’t sound. The option hurt us, but we hurt ourselves a lot, too.”

The high heat may have been a factor as well.

“People started getting tired,” senior cornerback Dawan Anderson said. “We just started slowing down.”

The defensive unit wasn’t back on its heels the entire game, however.

Until about halfway through the third quarter, the defense was extremely effective. They limited Batteaux to just one completion in the first half and were actually pitching a shutout until Mitchell’s first score.

The lone TCU touchdown in the first half came on a blocked field goal attempt that Greg Walls returned 66 yards.

McCarney called it an error of technique, pointing out that “the guy [Russell Gary] got there almost faster than the snap did.”

Bandhauer and the Cyclone offense responded, though, with a 7-play, 71-yard drive that took only 44 seconds to complete and culminated in a nine-yard touchdown reception for Andy Stensrud.

The Cyclones then took the lead early in the third quarter on a 66-yard touchdown strike from Bandhauer to receiver Michael Brantley.

“We did some good things,” Bandhauer said. “We just gotta play a full game.”

Even after Mitchell and TCU evened the score late in the third quarter, the offense showed heart, driving 80 yards in 16 plays. Bandhauer capped the drive with a one-yard QB sneak at the 1:30 mark of the third, the first rushing touchdown of his career.

“We showed a lot of resolve,” McCarney said. “But TCU showed a little bit more resolve. It was anybody’s game for a long, long time, but they made the plays they needed to.”

In the end, the sweltering heat and the continued pressure of the Horned Frogs proved too much for the Cyclones. They couldn’t seem to maintain focus and endurance through four full quarters.

A situation all too familiar.

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– Game Notes –

BANDY’S BULLETS

—QB Todd Bandahuer’s two touchdown passes gave him a total of 28, which is five behind record holder Alex Espinosa’s total of 33.

—His 268 yards moved him into 5th place on the all-time yardage chart, moving him ahead of Todd Doxson.

—His 22 compilations moved him up three slots into 5th, again surpassing Doxson among others.

—His rushing TD was the first of his career.

—He passed for at least 250 yards for the 5th time in his career, 2nd behind Espinosa’s eight.

—Bandhauer completed passes to eight different receivers, the most since he completed passes to 9 different receivers last year at Kansas.

—Bandy was not sacked in his 45 attempts, the first time that has happened since the last time the Cyclones got a victory, last year against Baylor.

FACTS AND FIGURES

—Punter Carl Gomez moved into second place in punting average after averaging 45.5 yards per kick. Leading the list is Marc Harris.

—In the first quarter, ISU had the ball for 8:39, while TCU maintained possession for only 6:21. For the rest of the game, TCU controlled the ball for 26:02, while ISU had the pigskin for 18:58.

—The crowd of 33,009 was dwarfed by the two previous home openers, which were both played at night and attended by over 43,000 people.

—The loss moves the Cyclones to 74-29-4 in home openers overall.

—The squad moved to just 1-3 under Dan McCarney.

—The loss to TCU means the Cyclones are now 0-3 against teams from the WAC.

—The loss means that ISU has now lost 9 of their last 10 home games.

—Dawan Anderson’s interception make six for his career, which is tied for 9th on the ISU all-time list.