KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In No. 17 Iowa State’s 23-22 loss to Texas Tech, one glaring problem resulted in the Cyclones perfect season ending, and that was the missed opportunities from the offense.

Whether it came from the six penalties suffered by the offense, or just the inability to capitalize after multiple stops by the Iowa State defense, the Cyclones offense could not find a way to take advantage of the opportunities given to them.

That same issue reappeared Saturday, as Iowa State’s offensive inconsistencies buried the Cyclones for their second straight loss on the season, 45-36 to Kansas.

To start, Iowa State’s offense had an opportunity to jump out in front of the Jayhawks after stopping Kansas on its first drive of the game.

It looked bleak at first since the Jayhawks’ special teams unit pinned the Cyclones down to their own one-yard line to start out their first offensive drive of the game.

Despite suffering its first of many penalties on the day, quarterback Rocco Becht helped lead the Iowa State offense down the field to take an early 7-0 lead thanks to a 27-yard touchdown by senior wide receiver Jaylin Noel.

Noel, a Kansas City native, cherished the opportunity to show out in the stadium he grew up watching as a kid, as he finished his day leading the team with 167 yards on eight receptions and two touchdown catches at Arrowhead Stadium Saturday.

“It was great to play in a stadium I grew up coming to,” Noel said. “It was an experience that I’ll never forget.”

After going up by a score, it had looked like the Cyclones would take advantage of this early lead and hang on to win the ball game.

But the complete opposite happened, as the Kansas offense went on to shred the once stout Iowa State defense and score on every drive following its first, with four consecutive touchdowns and a field goal to end the Jayhawks’ first half.

“It’s unacceptable,” defensive back Beau Freyler said. “Defensively we can’t allow that to happen and we won’t allow that to happen again.”

As Kansas continued to put up multiple scores, it was left to the Cyclones offense to keep up the score and battle throughout this game.

But just like in the Texas Tech game, more of the same helped bury Iowa State early, as the Cyclones offense struggled to find ways to consistently put up points on the board.

A series of punts and field goals by kicker Kyle Konrardy would round out Iowa State’s first-half offense, with the fourth drive hurting the Cyclones the most.

A 39-yard reception by Noel would help bring Iowa State inside Kansas’ 10-yard line, as the Cyclones looked to cut the deficit to one score midway through the second quarter.

But after three straight failed attempts to punch it in, highlighted by Becht’s overthrow to tight end Stevo Klotz in the endzone, resulted in one of Konrardy’s two field goals of the first half. 

“I thought the ability to get a score before half gave us some momentum,” head coach Matt Campbell said. “But again, we’re playing in a rhythm where we have to play catchup.”

Entering the second half, Iowa State found itself down 31-13 with the ball after deferring the opening kickoff to start the game.

In that first drive to start the second half, it looked like the Cyclone offense had found ways to start slowly and methodically driving down the field to cut into the 18-point deficit.

But, it did not finish as it was projected, as a fourth down conversion was not made, hence giving Kansas the ball for the first time in the second half, in which they put up yet another touchdown.

However, Iowa State came out swinging right away after giving up its sixth consecutive score, as Becht would find Noel for a 44-yard completion that was followed by an 11-yard touchdown by sophomore running back Carson Hansen, who scored his eighth touchdown of the season.

A missed field goal by Jayhawk kicker Tabor Allen gave the Cyclones a very slim chance of hope to try and climb back into this game.

Iowa State would score on its next drive, as four consecutive completions by Becht resulted in a 27-yard touchdown by running back Jaylon Jackson would bring the score within 10 points.

But even after everything that had occurred to this point, the Cyclones somehow still had an opportunity to overcome all the odds and potentially take down Kansas.

After holding the Jayhawks to a punt the very next drive, Becht killed the hopes of a potential comeback after he threw an interception to Kansas cornerback Mello Dotson, who returned it 25 yards for a touchdown.

In last season’s matchup, when then-No. 22 Kansas took down Iowa State 28-21 in Ames, Dotson had gotten the best of Becht in that game when he took it 50 yards for a score after intercepting him in the second quarter.

Much of the same happened on Saturday, with Dotson’s score effectively ending the game and handing the Cyclones their second loss on the season.

“I have to be better with the ball,” Becht said. “I can’t keep turning the ball over and giving them free points.”