Iowa State Football: 3 takeaways from disappointing loss to Kansas State

Iowa State football went on the road in the season finale and was unable to pick up a win over Kansas State, dropping to 7-5. What’d we learn?

Winning in Manhattan isn’t easy — just ask Oklahoma. Iowa State went to the Little Apple on Saturday evening, looking to finish the season strong but the Cyclones came up short with a 27-17 loss at the hands of Kansas State.

The Wildcats dominated the trenches which was the difference and with Bill Snyder in attendance, they improved to 8-4 on the season while Iowa State dropped to 7-5.

What’d we learn from Iowa State’s tough loss?

3. Iowa State couldn’t take advantage of late turnovers

Iowa State and Kansas State were playing a relatively evenly-matched game — until the fourth quarter.

But there was one difference in the game that stood out, at least to me: Iowa State botched two major opportunities to take a commanding lead over the Cyclones. There was an interception by Skylar Thompson that gave Iowa State good field position and then there was a fumble by the quarterback that also put the Cyclones in Wildcat territory.

What did Iowa State come away with after these two turnovers? Just three points.

While scoring three off two turnovers may not seem terrible, the game was tied and Iowa State could have taken at least a 10-point lead with the field position it was gifted, but it blew the second opportunity and never rebounded.