In a game that showcased a near sellout crowd, ISU’s longest touchdown pass ever and Troy Davis making NCAA history, Iowa State head football coach Dan McCarney was still unsatisfied with the Cyclones’ 26-39 loss to Oklahoma.

“They [Oklahoma] made the plays. It’s a four-point game in the fourth quarter. They made the big plays and we didn’t,” McCarney said. “I want to thank our fans. People told me that you would never be able to sell out any other game besides the Iowa game. I don’t know how they announced it, but I didn’t see any empty seats. There were people hanging from the rafters.”

The attendance stood at 45,731 on Saturday. The attendance for this year’s Iowa game was 49,000.

While Oklahoma did make big plays, ISU had its share of big plays made by big-time Cyclone players.

One of the biggest plays was supplied by Cyclone quarterback Todd Doxzon, who hooked up with receiver Ed Williams in the second quarter on a 90-yard touchdown pass — the longest in team history.

Besides the efforts of Davis, Doxzon and Williams, redshirt sophomore Preston Rhamy busted through the Oklahoma offensive line to block Brian Lewis’s punt in the fourth quarter. The ball was picked up by defensive back Kevin Hudson, who ran it in for a touchdown to give the Cyclones a 26-23 lead with 11:40 left in the game.

“We thought we could get one and we did. We got some big plays in the game, but their defense just did a good job controlling the tempo in the second half,” McCarney said.

Oklahoma head coach Howard Schnellenberger praised McCarney’s game plan.

“I was very impressed with his game plan and ball control. It was well thought out. They played harder than I thought they would,” Schnellenberger said. “This game took a lot out of everybody, emotionally. Especially me.”

The game also took a physical toll on ISU offensive coordinator Steve Loney. During the fourth quarter, Loney passed out on the sidelines after becoming upset with what he believed should have been pass interference on Oklahoma.

“Obviously that’s were all of my focus and attention was, rather than the football game,” McCarney said. “That’s always very scary and it sure puts the game in perspective when one of your coaches goes down like that.”

The attention then turned to Davis with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter. Davis needed 88 yards coming into the game to become the first sophomore in major college history to reach 1,000 yards in five games. Davis who had accumulated 87 yards in the game, had his number called on the Cyclones’ last play from scrimmage on fourth down and nine yards to go with 1:09 left in the game. Two yards later, Davis had made NCAA history.

“I didn’t know how many yards he had until the final minute. There’s thousands of thousands of backs that have played football for hundreds and hundreds of years and to be a part of history, I thought that’s the least that we could do,” McCarney said. “He earned it, he deserved it, and I’m glad he got it.”