Iowa State football ended their tremendous 2017 regular season with a heartbreaking loss to Bill Snyder’s Kansas State Wildcats in Week 13.
There was a time when Iowa State was, metaphorically, on top of the college football world. The Cyclones pulled off a pair of jarring Top 5 upsets in a four week span. First they downed Oklahoma on the road, then they toppled TCU at home. The Cyclones picked up too many losses in the second half to contend for a conference championship, but the season will still be considered a rousing success from a team that had made its home at the bottom of the conference.
Iowa State fell on the final play to Kansas State on the road. The loss drops Iowa State’s record to 7-5 record and will put them back in the middle of the pack in the conference standings.
True to the rest of their wins this season, the Cyclones put forth a well-rounded performance from all three phases of the game on Saturday. Quarterback Kyle Kempt was efficient and accurate, tossing two touchdowns on 24 completions on 36 attempts for 264 yards. The ground game was methodical, but not terribly efficient. They did not having a carry longer than 15 yards, and tallied 115 yards rushing on 30 attempts good for 3.8 yards per carry.
The defense held Kansas State at bay for most of the evening until the moment it mattered the most. With 1:55 left on the clock and the ball on the 13-yard line the Wildcats put together a 10-play, clock milking drive capped off with a 1-yard touchdown ass from Skylar Thompson to Isaiah Zuber to give the Wildcats a 1-point victory.
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The Cyclones were just okay, and that wasn’t enough against Kansas State. Iowa State will await the announcement of their bowl destination following the conference championship game next weekend.