The Cyclones took down the Cowboys 20-13 in the season finale on Saturday, winning their third straight game to close out the regular season.
With the win, Iowa State finishes the season with an 8-4 record and a 5-4 conference record. Oklahoma State fell to 1-11 in its final game before North Texas head coach Eric Morris takes over next season.
Powerful rushing attack, slow passing attack
Redshirt junior quarterback Rocco Becht posted one of his slowest performances against Oklahoma State, throwing for just 94 yards on 47% passing. Becht’s previous season and career low was 111 passing yards, which occurred in early November against TCU.
Becht completed just eight passes in the entire game and had a clear favorite target in redshirt junior wide receiver Chase Sowell, who hauled in four passes for 54 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown was a 16 yard reception in the middle of the second quarter, giving the Cyclones a 10-0 lead.
After a slow first half with only 54 passing yards from Becht, many probably thought the second half would see a stronger passing attack, but it regressed instead of getting better.
Other than an important 24 yard catch by junior tight end Benjamin Brahmer on a 4th and one in the fourth quarter, Becht only completed passes of 19, nine, seven and zero yards in the second half.
The ground game, on the other hand, had its second-best game with 231 yards across four runners. The loss against Colorado was the best of the season, when the Cyclones had 236.
Junior running back Carson Hansen finished the season with five straight 100 yard games, finishing the game against Oklahoma State with 109 on 24 attempts. If you take away a holding call on the Cyclones, Hansen would have added a 48 yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
The other part of the two-headed monster in the backfield is junior running back Abu Sama III, who had a big game himself. Sama averaged over seven yards a carry, going for 87 on 12 attempts. His biggest run was a 40 yard touchdown scamper, giving Iowa State a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter.
Generating turnovers
On a day when only one area of the Cyclones’ offense was clicking, they needed to get some help from another department. Luckily, the Iowa State defense stepped up and made plays when it needed to.
Early in the second quarter, the Cyclones had jumped out to a 3-0 lead and were still having success stopping the Oklahoma State offense. On a 3rd and three, the Cowboys receiver got wrapped up and stripped, and sophomore safety Marcus Neal Jr. recovered it to set up the Cyclones with good field positioning on the Cowboy 46 yard line.
Over the course of the game, the Cowboys fumbled three more times, but the Cyclones could not manage to get on top of any more, leaving potential turnovers on the table.
The only other takeaway for Iowa State came at the very end of the third quarter. Iowa State led 17-10 and the Cowboys were near midfield. Cowboy quarterback Zane Flores dropped back to pass on 2nd and 20, and redshirt sophomore defensive back Drew Surges intercepted his pass.
The interception from Surges was the first of the season for him and the second of his career. His only other interception came in his lone 2024 game, when he intercepted a pass in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
In a season full of runs, the Cyclones started with a five-game winning streak, followed that with a four game losing streak, but finished it with a three game winning streak.
The 8-4 regular season record was not enough to get back into the Big 12 Championship game, but Iowa State will find out its bowl placement on Dec. 7.
