Earlier in the week, ISU football coach Paul Rhoads said he thought Texas Christian Univeristy would be coming into the Dec. 6 game against Iowa State with the full intention of scoring some style points.

The Horned Frogs had no problem executing that game plan.

For Iowa State (2-10, 0-9 Big 12), the season came to end Dec. 6 in the fashion many may have expected: A blowout loss to TCU (11-1, 8-1 Big 12), who is playing for one of the final four sports in the college football playoff. 

The Horned Frogs put an emphasis on style at the beginning. To start the affair, TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin hauled in a touchdown reception on a trick play. This began his impressive stat line on the day that ended with him throwing for 460 yards and four touchdowns.

“They had my vote,” Rhoads said of TCU’s run for the playoffs. “Very well coached, got good players and played at a high level today.”

Even with the high stat lines and final score, Iowa State did manage to keep it close for the first 30 minutes, holding TCU’s highly touted offense to only 17 points in the first half. On offense, Iowa State sputtered time and time again, reaching the end zone only once and capitalizing on a 26-yard Cole Netten field goal. 

“We played a very good defense,” Rhoads said. “They do a nice job of moving their front, and we knew we’d have to counter that to run the ball, pick up those blocks as well as pass protection. We did not pick them up very well.”

Rhoads said he and his staff tried to make some adjustments at half but to no avail as the Horned Frogs’ defense continued to halt every ISU drive in the second half, including one interception returned for a touchdown. 

“We came out in the second half and started to do some things,” said TCU coach Gary Patterson. “We got an interception for a touchdown then once it started snowballing everything started happening the way it needed to. That’s why you play four quarters.” 

The 55-3 loss in Fort Worth, Texas, closes out a disappointing and injury-riddled season that began the first day of practice when lineman Ben Loth went down with a season-ending knee injury. Throughout the season the only players to start every game were center Tom Farniok, defensive linemen Cory Morrissey and Mitchell Meyers as well as offensive lineman Daniel Burton. That number is down from six last season and 12 in 2012. 

Moving forward into 2015, Rhoads said he doesn’t anticiapate making any coaching changes and plans to hit the recruiting road, with a few coaches going on recruiting trips straight from Fort Worth. Rhoads already has a few areas of improvement he’s planning to key in on.  

“We’ve got to become a smarter football team,” Rhoads said. “We’ve got to become smarter through being simpler and go out there and do what we can do and do it to the best of our ability.”