Iowa State scored six touchdowns with all of them being longer than 30 yards as #19 K-State gets a maddening loss in their regular season finale at home 42-35.

On the first play from scrimmage, true freshman running back Abu Sama III took off for a 71-yard touchdown thanks to a few missed tackles.

On the Cyclones’ next possession, Desmond Purnell punched the ball out of Sama’s grasp and Austin Moore pounced on it at the Iowa State 39-yard line with 11:53 left in the first quarter.

K-State was able to convert that takeaway into three points with a pass interference call on TJ Tampa Jr. setting up the Cats in the redzone. Chris Tennant nailed a 23-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 8:15 remaining in the opening quarter.

After K-State’s defense forced a three-and-out, K-State marched down the field quickly. Will Howard got some chunk plays, including a 13-yard completion to Ben Sinnott, a 20-yard completion to Jayce Brown and a 13-yard run by Howard. However, they were stood up once again inside the ten-yard and the Cats settle for three with a 22-yard field goal by Tennant making it 7-6.

Sama broke free once again with more missed tackles with this sprint being a 77-yarder to give the Clones a 14-6 lead with 14:47 remaining in the second quarter.

The Wildcats’ next drive would be a long one that lasted 12 plays for 87 yards and 5:44. It was mainly done thanks to medium-sized plays. Sinnott did haul in a 25-yard reception and Giddens had a 15-yard scamper. It ended with a DJ Giddens one-yard touchdown to get K-State back within one with 8:55 left in the half.

With less than 90 seconds left, Jack Blumer punted one Iowa State’s way, but it hit the back of the leg of a Cyclone and picked up by Seth Porter at the Iowa State 30-yard line to give the Cats one more chance to take the lead before the break.

They did just that with Sinnott catching a dump-off pass and running it in for a 15-yard score to give K-State a 20-14 lead at halftime.

In the first half, Sama III accounted for 197 rushing yards on just eight carries for 24.6 yards per carry with his two touchdowns, and he was responsible for 197 of the team’s 199 total yards.

K-State got the ball out of the break and missed the opportunity to jump out to a two-score lead right out of the gate as they decided to punt on a 4th & 3 from the ISU 48-yard line.

That decision to give the ball away would haunt them as Iowa State got another touchdown on a long splash play with Jaylin Noel catching a ball from Rocco Brecht deep in the middle of the field on a simple crossing route and took it to the house for a 79-yard score. That made it a 21-20 Cyclones lead with 10:37 left in the third quarter.

In what felt like a must-score drive for K-State, Howard and Sinnott hooked up three times for 55 of 79 yards in the drive with Howard running it in himself from the nine-yard line for another go-ahead touchdown. They decided to go for two to go up by a full touchdown and a pop pass to Brooks was successful making it 28-21 with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter.

It was yet another long rushing touchdown for Sama III with Will Lee pushing him forward for a speed boost instead of trying to tackle the freshman. This one was a 60-yard touchdown to tie the game 28-28 with 4:53 left in the third quarter.

The Wildcats went on another long drive which included a 12-yard run by Treshaun Ward, a 13-yard completion to Will Swanson and an 18-yard completion to Jayce Brown on a 4th & 3. Ward got into the endzone to give the Cats a 35-28 lead with 14:49 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Just four plays later, and ISU for the fifth time scored on a long play with this time Brecht going to Jayden Higgins for a 33-yard touchdown to tie it 35-35 with 12:31 to go.

After K-State once again declined to go for it on a 4th & 3 near midfield, Iowa State made them play for their sixth long touchdown play of the game with this one being the longest of the game. Noel tight-roped the sideline for an 82-yard score on a 3rd & 16 to give Iowa State the lead back with 8:04 remaining in the game.

Howard wanted a big play of his own, and he forced a throw into double coverage which was intercepted at the K-State 41-yard line.

K-State got their first stop since late in the second quarter, but they were pinned at their own two-yard line.

The final drive was filled with poor decisions from an array of K-State personnel. Howard had four or five passes that should have been intercepted, Collin Klein called a halfback draw on a 3rd & 10 and Chris Klieman called timeouts at weird points in the drive. Ultimately, it was a turnover on downs in the redzone that ended the game.

Will Howard finished 24-for-48 with 288 yards, a touchdown, an interception, 11 carries, 46 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

DJ Giddens had an inefficient day, but he received the bulk of the work in the backfield. He finished with 31 carries for just 114 yards and a touchdown. Ben Sinnott was absent in the fourth quarter, but he finished with ten catches for 136 yards and a touchdown. Jayce Brown also had a nice day with 69 yards on five catches.

Iowa State didn’t have a single drive that went longer than four plays. K-State ran an absurd 102 plays compared to Iowa State’s just 35. The Cylcones averaged 13.9 yards per play, 28.8 yards per completion and 11.2 yards per carry. Iowa State ran just three plays in K-State territory and didn’t run a single play in the red zone. ISU’s six touchdown drives came on just 16 plays.

The Wildcats finish the regular season with a final record of 8-4 and a conference record of 5-3. They will await for what bowl game they will play in, which will likely be determined on Sunday, December 3rd.