AMES – No. 9 Iowa State trailed UCF by 14 points in the second half. Behind a massive fourth-quarter turnaround, the Cyclones rallied behind quarterback Rocco Becht to a 38-35 win.

Becht had two costly interceptions, but his career-high 97 rushing yards kept Iowa State alive. In all, the Cyclones had a season-high 530 yards of total offense.

Becht uses his legs

Prior to Saturday, Becht’s previous high in rushing yards in a game was 31. He bested that total in the first half and built on it throughout the game.

When all was said and done, Becht had 97 rushing yards on 20 attempts. Both numbers led the Cyclones against UCF.

“I didn’t think I had that in me, but I guess I do,” Becht said.

When receivers weren’t open, Becht scrambled. Though he was sacked three times, he escaped more often than not.

Becht’s rushing numbers made up for his poor day throwing the ball. He connected on 20 of his 46 passes for 274 yards, 153 of those to senior wide receiver Jaylin Noel.

The lone touchdown pass was to senior wide receiver Jayden Higgins. If Higgins caught a touchdown last week, this would have marked nine straight games with a touchdown reception for Higgins.

The costly part of Becht’s passing was the interceptions. One was a pick-six, and the other would have been if the UCF defender had not let go of the ball at the one-yard line.

Becht did respond after the mistakes and led the team down the field to the win.

“Mental toughness is my superpower,” Becht said. “That just comes with reps and reps in practice and just the way I grew up with my dad and my mom. Credit to them and the coaches and staff on this team for helping me do that.”

In terms of Iowa State’s running back room, sophomore Carson Hansen was the go-to guy in the first half. The sophomore had his third game with multiple rushing touchdowns with two against the Knights.

Fellow sophomore Abu Sama III started the game again from the running back position, but it was Hansen who led the way in production.

Hansen’s best run of the night was from his second carry of the game. He went 57 yards to the house on the second play of the drive. The first play? A three-yard rush from Hansen.

The touchdown tied the game at seven, and Hansen scored on the next drive to give the Cyclones the lead.

Hansen finished with 91 yards on nine attempts, while Sama ran 10 times for 55 yards. The third man in the Iowa State backfield, senior Jaylon Jackson, had trouble against UCF, with just 15 yards on eight carries.

Hansen would not return in the second half due to an injury. Afterward, Sama was the lead back and was crucial in the passing game.

A desperation throw from Becht in the third quarter to Sama was completed for 26 yards on third down. That led to the touchdown to Higgins. Had Sama not caught that ball, Iowa State may not have won.

Becht spun around, launched it and found Sama down the field.

“Those are championship-type plays,” head coach Matt Campbell said. “Rocco [Becht] did it, and I think it says everything about who he is.”

UCF runs all over Iowa State

Running back RJ Harvey was the biggest piece of the UCF offense Iowa State needed to contain. Once again, it would have to be a bend-but-don’t-break mentality against a runner of his caliber.

The Cyclones struggled all game to contain him, as Harvey ran for 196 yards and two touchdowns. One of the touchdowns was from one yard out after Becht’s second interception.

His best run of the game came on an 80-yard touchdown in the second quarter. It was the only play on that UCF drive.

“They’ve got the most explosive run game,” Iowa State defensive lineman J.R. Singleton said.

Not only did Harvey have his way, but quarterback Jacurri Brown had over 100 rushing yards as well. On 13 carries, he had 154 yards in total and found the endzone twice.

His highlight run was a 67-yard touchdown.

Brown started the game at quarterback for UCF over KJ Jefferson, and the decision was a good one for the most part for the Knights. Though he didn’t throw great, with 62 yards and two interceptions, his ability on the ground kept UCF alive.

In all, Iowa State gave up 354 yards on the ground, the most of this season.

“Those are two phenomenal athletes,” Campbell said. “We’ve got to be better. We weren’t as good as we needed to be at times.”

A wild end to a wild game

Iowa State led for just 30 seconds in the second half. Those 30 seconds were also the final ones of the game.

Faced with a 14-point deficit in the third quarter, the Cyclones needed a comeback.

The main man who led the way? Becht.

Becht was a part of all three of Iowa State’s second-half touchdowns. Both of his rushing touchdowns – quarterback sneaks – and his passing touchdown all came in the second half.

“Guys believe in him,” Noel said. “Guys know that he’s confident every time he steps on the field, no matter what previous drives look like.”

During the final drive of the game, Becht and Higgins said they knew they would score. It would, in fact, be Becht who had the game-winning score.

That touchdown put the Cyclones up by one, and Becht would run it in again on the two-point conversion.

“I knew I was going to score,” Becht said. “I just put my pads down and did it for this team.”

When it came time for the defense to hit the field one final time, redshirt sophomore defensive back Jontez Williams stepped up again.

For the fourth game in a row, Williams had an interception. Much like the ones in the previous games, it happened late in the game – the final drive of the game late.

“We know that somebody is going to step up and make those plays when they need to,” Williams said. “When we come together as a team, we’re unstoppable.”

Becht got the score, and Williams got the pick to seal the win and kept Iowa State’s undefeated season afloat.

“The character of our team just keeps showing up,” Campbell said.