Interesting. That’s the best way to describe it.

With the ball at the Akron 18-yard line and a chance to pull away from a tough-minded Zips team, the Cyclones brought on true freshman quarterback Brock Purdy for his first taste of collegiate football.

It was a puzzling decision, to say the least (postgame, Campbell said he wanted to get Purdy playing time and show something different to the Akron defense).

Two plays and two total yards later, without attempting a single pass, Purdy left the field, and redshirt sophomore Zeb Noland returned to the game. The next play was an incomplete pass, and instead of a game-clinching touchdown, the Cyclones walked away with a field goal to push their lead to 23-13. It was a series indicative of the entire game for Iowa State’s lukewarm offense.

The Cyclones added another field goal to finish off a 26-13 win that was every bit as odd on the offensive end as the final score indicated.

The Cyclones, going simply by the box score, had a mixed outing. On one hand, Noland threw for 200-plus yards and a touchdown, Hakeem Butler displayed why he’s the Cyclones’ No. 1 receiver and junior David Montgomery had his first 100-yard game of the season.

Butler thought the Cyclones should have scored more than two touchdowns, but admitted that coach Matt Campbell probably knows better than he does when it comes to fourth-down decision making.

“I want to score every time,” Butler said. “I wouldn’t be a good coach, ’cause I would play it just like I play Madden. I would go for it on fourth [down] every time. That’s just me, but Campbell is the coach for a reason.”

On the other hand, the Cyclones had two turnovers — both fumbles — and had several opportunities to close the door on Akron that resulted in three points instead of seven.

Campbell was frustrated with the Cyclones shooting themselves in the foot.

“We’re not naive,” Campbell said. “You can’t do that here at Iowa State, [or] you can’t win games.”

Myriad factors heading into the game on Saturday contributed to the Cyclones having a mixed day. Top receiving tight end Chase Allen, targeted frequently by Noland through the first two games, was unable to play due to a groin injury, and starting left guard Josh Mueller didn’t make the start.

“He got dinged up in practice,” Campbell said about Mueller.

Despite the big plays the Cyclones created, they were frequently pushed into third-and-long situations by the Akron defense. When those situations presented themselves, the go-to move was often a crossing route well short of the line to gain. As a result, the Cyclones only converted 6-of-16 third downs. The aggressiveness in throwing deep seen against Oklahoma was almost nonexistent.

Campbell said that the Zips’ gameplan led to the checkdowns and throws short of the sticks.

“They’re going to sit back, they’re going to put an extra hat in the box, lay off and make you methodically drive down the field,” Campbell said.

Noland said having more first down success will help the team on third downs.

“We gotta keep ourselves out of second-and-10, second-and-longs,” Noland said. “We can’t be stalling out like we have been.”

Iowa State didn’t need to pull out all of the stops to beat the Zips in somewhat comfortable fashion, in part because of the Cyclone defense held Akron to 244 total yards.

Campbell did say it has been hard for the Cyclones to form an offensive identity because the team has faced three totally different defenses, but the offense’s inability to finish drives and the conservative play-calling is still a glaring issues three weeks into the season.

Up next? TCU, which boasts maybe the best defense in the Big 12.

The clock is ticking on Iowa State’s offense to figure itself out.