AMES — Under the lights in Jack Trice Stadium, the Cyclones had one goal in mind: pick up their first win in the Big 12 Conference. 

Unfortunately for the Cyclones, a win would be tough to come by. Kansas State’s defense proved too suffocating, and Iowa State fell 10-9.

Iowa State was coming off two heartbreaking losses to Big 12 opponents in games that could have gone either way. The loss at home to Baylor and the loss in Lawrence, Kansas, to the Jayhawks were both one-possession games.

The Cyclones desperately needed to swing close games in their favor if they wanted to get back on track in the Big 12 season. However, Saturday night proved no different from the last two contests, and the Cyclones dropped to 0-3 after another close game.

The Cyclones fought hard throughout the night, keeping the game within reach. Iowa State came into the game leading the Big 12 in most defensive stats.

Iowa State needed another strong defensive performance to stop the powerful Kansas State offense. Not only did the Cyclones need the defense to keep the game close, but they needed to avoid the special team blunders that plagued them in the loss to Kansas.

The third key piece to victory would be the Iowa State offense gaining momentum. 

Throughout the night, the Iowa State defense kept the game within reach, allowing only 10 points. Iowa State kicker Jace Gilbert also did his job, making all three of his field goal attempts.

However, the rest of the offense couldn’t get moving, and the 10-point hill proved too large to climb.

The lack of offensive creativity proved to be the thorn in the side of the Cyclones again. 

“I don’t feel like we’re totally off-kilter,” said Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. “It’s just our inconsistencies, and man, we have to be right on, right now to be consistent.”

Xavier Hutchinson was Dekkers’ safety net coming into the game and opposing defenses knew that.

In recent weeks, Dekkers was able to find different targets across the field, but Kansas State narrowed down his options. Hutchinson finished the day with 17 targets and eight catches. That was nearly half of Dekkers’ total attempts.

Hutchinson getting the majority of the looks wasn’t concerning to Campbell, as the run game raised more concerns.

“I think a bigger piece of it is the consistency of our running game right now with the ability to open up everything for everyone else,” Campbell said. “I still think you still want the ball in your best players’ hands.”

A shining light in the tough loss was Iowa State’s big plays on defense. Although the Cyclones had missed tackles and sloppy downs, when it came down to it, the big plays were crucial in keeping the game close.

Will McDonald IV had himself a day, getting to Kansas State’s quarterback Adrian Martinez twice in the first half. His efforts moved him up to No. 3 on the Big 12 career sack leaderboard, just half a sack away from surpassing Von Miller’s 33 sacks.

Another play that will stay in the minds of those who watched the game was Anthony Johnson’s forced fumble on the one-yard line.

“Maybe one of the greatest plays in the history of this program,” Campbell said.

Broken coverage in the Iowa State secondary allowed a Kansas State receiver to catch a ball wide-open on the sideline. He was able to elude two tackles and was marching his way toward the end zone.

The only player in pursuit was Johnson.

As the Kansas State receiver was a yard away from the end zone, Johnson gave all his effort to catch up and punch the ball out of his hands. Iowa State’s Colby Reeder fell on the ball in the end zone to turn what would have been a touchdown into a turnover for the Cyclones.

“That’s the spirit of Iowa State defense. That’s never giving up on the play,” O’Rien Vance said. “That is giving everything and every ounce of your being on any given down, and he showed exactly what Iowa State’s soul is.”

Although Johnson gave everything to make that big play, he still felt like there was a lot left on the table. Ten points may not seem like a lot of points, but it’s still more than zero.

Blown coverage helped Kansas State open up the game with a long touchdown. Missed tackles made other big plays possible for the Wildcats.

“Every play matters. We didn’t play well,” Johnson said. “We wasn’t as consistent, we didn’t get the turnovers. There’s a lot of things we got to fix, because, at the end of the day, they don’t score, they don’t win.”

Johnson doesn’t just hold himself to a high standard, he holds the whole team to a high standard. Everyone on the team knows they have more in them and aren’t happy coming away from a one-point contest with a loss.

There are more tough games ahead, so the only thing the team can do is grow from the losses. Starting Big 12 play 0-3 isn’t ideal, but it shows everyone what needs to be worked on.

“We just got to be better,” Vance said. “In every aspect of the game, we got to get better.”

The Cyclones are close to swinging games in their favor. Improving slightly in the lacking areas could prove to be the inches they need to compete with any team in the Big 12.

“We’re not miles away, we’re inches away,” Campbell said.