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5 numbers that stood out in Iowa State's football loss to Texas Tech

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5 numbers that stood out in Iowa State's football loss to Texas Tech

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AMES – Iowa State football lost its home game against Texas Tech 23-22 on Saturday.

In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, it looked like the Cyclones would pull out a win when Carson Brown scored his first career touchdown to give Iowa State the lead.

But the Red Raiders made the most of the remaining time in the game, moving downfield before scoring with less than a minute to play.

Here are five numbers that stand out from Iowa State's loss to Texas Tech.

More: Iowa State football: Texas Tech stuns the 10th-ranked Cyclones in the final seconds

1…as in an interception and fumble recovery by Texas Tech

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell puts a lot of emphasis on the details and there were a few little things the Cyclones didn't do right on Saturday.

The Red Raiders picked off Rocco Becht midway through the second quarter and recovered a fumble about 9 minutes into the third quarter. Luckily for the Cyclones, Texas Tech was unable to score points on either turnover.

More: Hines: Iowa State football is no longer perfect after the loss to Texas Tech

2 … as in two ineligible receiver penalties against Jarrod Hufford

Hufford's first ineligible receiver downfield penalty came about five minutes into the third quarter. Becht completed a 10-yard pass to Jayden Higgins, giving Iowa State the ball at Texas Tech's 20-yard line.

Except that wasn't the case, as the play was called off after Hufford's penalty. That drive resulted in a fumble that the Red Raiders recovered.

With one second left in the third quarter, Hufford was caught again for the same violation. This time, a 20-yard pass from Becht to Jaylin Noel that would have given the Cyclones the ball just outside the red zone early in the fourth quarter was nullified.

Iowa State settled for a field goal at the end of that drive.

More: Iowa State football graduate Allen Lazard attends the Cyclones game against Texas Tech

6…as in six passes broken up by the Iowa State defense

Texas Tech's final attack is one the Cyclones' defense would likely like to repeat, especially since that minute and a half overshadowed some of Iowa State's impressive defensive plays.

The Cyclones recorded three sacks – by Joey Petersen, JR Singleton and Marcus Neal – which was one more than Texas Tech. Myles Purchase and Darien Porter each threw an interception, and the Cyclones unit finished the game with six pass break-ups and six quarterback hurries.

Malik Verdon and Tyler Onyedim stood out in their pass coverage. Verdon finished the game with three passes defended – and he did it with a powerful throw to his left arm. Onyedim broke up a pass and was credited with two quarterback hurries.

20…as in the remaining 20 seconds after Texas Tech scored the game-winning touchdown

Brown caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from Becht with 2:11 seconds left in the fourth quarter. A career-long reception for Brown — and his first touchdown catch — put Iowa State back on top, but that wouldn't last long.

Texas Tech marched downfield and recovered three different false start penalties to score on a run by Tahj Brooks. The Red Raiders maintained their one-point lead into the final 20 seconds, and that was enough to win the game.

299…like Rocco Becht’s 299 pass yards

Iowa State's quarterback seemed discouraged after the loss, despite the small victories for Becht in the record book. He completed 59% of his passes (23-39) for 299 yards and two touchdowns – and threw one interception.

He tied Brock Purdy for the longest passing touchdown streak in school history, throwing one in each of the last 12 games since the 2023 season. His yardage pushed him to over 5,000 passing yards in his career, making him the eighth player in school history to do so – and Becht only needed 24 games to do so.

Only Purdy (19 games) and Seneca Wallace (23) did it faster.

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at [email protected] or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

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