Offensive struggles for the majority of the game caused the Iowa State football team to drop its second straight game in a 10-7 loss against Ohio.

The Cyclones’ sickened offense couldn’t get anything going for much of their final non-conference game of the season, and despite having hope at the end they left Athens, Ohio, in a similar spot to last weekend’s Cy-Hawk loss.

The Iowa State defense continued to look strong in this affair, holding the Bobcats under 250 total yards and forcing six punts, but are still not backed up by the Cyclones’ unproductive offense.

Here are the three big takeaways from Iowa State’s eighth one-score loss in the team’s last 15 games.

Cyclone offense stumbles in the first half
Iowa State couldn’t find any success on its four drives in the first two quarters, which resulted in 97 total yards on 21 plays. The Cyclones focused a lot on running the ball early and taking the ball out of Rocco Becht’s hands but were unsuccessful in establishing a threat on the ground and finished with eight yards on 12 attempts.

When Becht was given a shot at picking apart the Bobcat defense in the first half, he was solid and finished with six completions on nine attempts for 89 yards. Nearly half of those yards came on a 45-yard connection with Aidan Bitter but it was the only huge play the Cyclones mustered up against Ohio’s veteran defense.

Iowa State’s only real shot at points was on an 11-play, 56-yard drive at the end of the first quarter. The drive ended in a missed field goal from Chase Contreraz from 47 yards out which was plagued by a faulty hold from punter Tyler Perkins.

Iowa State offense remains silent, Bobcats capitalize on mistakes
Coming out of halftime, the Cyclones needed to turn things around in put their unproductive first half behind them. After an 11-yard run from Cartevious Norton to start the second half, the team’s longest run of the game at that point, things looked like they were turning around for the Cyclones.

That small hope was quickly diminished on the next play when Becht was picked off on a short pass that was intended for wide receiver Jayden Higgins, who slipped on his route. That interception placed the Bobcats on Iowa State’s 23-yard line, which they quickly took advantage of and scored the first points of the game on a wide-open receiving touchdown from Sam Wiglusz.

Iowa State continued to struggle offensively for the remainder of the third quarter and would go down 10-0 after Ohio’s most successful drive of the game, 81 yards on 12 plays, resulted in a 27-yard field goal.

The Cyclones finally got things going offensively in the fourth quarter on a 63-yard drive, which saw Becht evade a ton of pressure and take full control of the offense. With the hope of bringing it to a one-score game, Iowa State attempted a 37-yard field goal which flew over the right goalpost.

Multiple broadcast angles showed that the ball might’ve snuck in at the end, but since it was over the goalpost the play wasn’t reviewed.

Heads-up play squanders late hope for Iowa State
With a little over four minutes left in the game and a pair of back-to-back great throws from Becht, one of which was an 18-yard touchdown bullet to Higgins, the Cyclones had a shot at coming back and escaping with a win.

A huge tackle for loss from Ben Nikkel on a quarterback keeper forced the Bobcats to give Iowa State the ball back with a little over two minutes left on the Cyclones 12-yard line.

On the first play of Iowa State’s prayerful final drive, Becht’s pass bounced off of Higgins’s hands and into the mits of Bobcat defensive lineman Rodney Matthews, which put the game away and handed the Cyclones their second loss of the season.

The Cyclones finished the game with 271 total yards, with 233 of them coming through the air. Becht led the way on the ground with 31 yards, which was more than Iowa State’s three running backs had combined.

Much like in the loss against Iowa, the Cyclones failed to find success offensively for the first three quarters and relied on late miracle drives to make up for their presence early on.

While the Cyclones were hoping to get things right before going into their first Big 12 matchup against Oklahoma State at home next week, it’s clear that they still have a lot to clean up with their inexperienced offense. Iowa State’s matchup against the Cowboys is set to kick off at 3 p.m. Saturday.