Down by one point, the Iowa State offense took the ball at midfield with a chance at a go-ahead drive twice in the final seven minutes.
It failed to pick up a first down in both instances, unable to move the ball up the field to beat its biggest conference rival, ultimately losing to No. 20 Kansas State 10-9.
There is a stark difference between the offense that went 99 yards in Kinnick Stadium to win the Cy-Hawk game and this one – which lost its third-straight Big 12 game Saturday.
It doesn’t start and end at the running back position, but there’s a big puzzle piece with the entire position group on it when it comes to finishing the picture.
Without a healthy Jirehl Brock, it’s difficult to even see what the puzzle is supposed to be. Throw in Cartevious Norton, who warmed up for Saturday’s game and didn’t take a snap.
The rushing attack, or lack thereof showed more on Saturday than it did in Lawrence a week ago, and that says a lot.
Five times during the game, a rush of two yards or less stalled out the drive and forced Iowa State to punt. Two of those came in the fourth quarter.
That’s a problem that has been masked in past years, with large thanks going to NFL running backs David Montgomery and Breece Hall.
Brock has shown glimpses of being something of that effect to the Cyclone offense, but plans changed when he went down with an injury late in the third quarter.
“First of all, with Jirehl, he got banged up,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “Obviously, he wasn’t 100 percent, but he was able to go in and do some pass protection things for us after that injury, but he just couldn’t run the football after that.”
Iowa State ran 10 plays in the fourth quarter, totaling 11 yards.
“I thought we had a good plan coming in,” Campbell said. “Obviously, the inconsistency of that plan continues to show up. I am part of that as anybody, but I don’t feel like we are totally off kilter.”
When taking away the pair of blown plays by the defense – which ended up evening out, essentially, on the scoreboard – the unit gave up 239 yards to an offense that averages 406. Even with the 388 yards that went on the stat sheet, the unit still answered the call.
Iowa State’s special teams unit had a near perfect performance, but the offense at times felt repetitive. Specifically, in instances where a run stopped short led to a throw well short of the line to gain on third and long.
In the past, a healthy, top-tier rushing attack would allow the yards for a short reception to get a first down conversion.
It may mask an incompletion on first down and set up the third and short needed to convert with a high-percentage, completion-minded pass.
It would change the way a defense plays and allow a performance where Xavier Hutchinson was targeted 17 times to result in a touchdown.
Saturday, the Iowa State offense didn’t have that. It had just the 68 rushing yards on 20 attempts from the pair of backs and it only shined a brighter light on other issues with the attack.
“We’ve got to be more physical at the point of attack,” Brock said. “Just running the ball – making smarter decisions. I feel like we will figure it out, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
That’s cloud filled with pressure that has only grown larger with each of the three consecutive losses the team has suffered to open conference play.
Cyclone fans can only hope the health of Brock or Norton improves, otherwise the six-win mark may feel like 60 wins going into a bye week after next Saturday’s matchup with Texas.
If the pair aren’t healthy, it could take a miracle for Iowa State to pull out a victory, unless the game plan goes through changes that simply didn’t come in the same spot on Saturday.
