ARLINGTON, Texas – No. 16 Iowa State had an uphill battle to climb all game against No. 15 Arizona State in the Big 12 Championship. The defense could not contain running back Cam Skattebo and the offense could not put points on the board, which resulted in a 45-19 loss for the Cyclones.

Down 14 at halftime, Iowa State started with the football and an opportunity to put points on the board. Cyclones quarterback Rocco Becht spun past a defender to convert a third down. On the very next play, running back Abu Sama III fumbled the ball into the hands of the Sun Devils.

Arizona State proceeded to score a touchdown on the drive, which brought the deficit to 21. There was no coming back after that.

“[Arizona State] executed with high precision,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t play our best football game today. That’s what it was going to take to be successful.”

Not only did Iowa State give up a score after a turnover on that drive, but the Cyclones did the same thing on the next drive. Becht threw an interception that set up a score for the Sun Devils, which made it a 38-10 ballgame midway through the third quarter.

Though he started the day strong, Becht finished with 214 passing yards on 21-of-35 passing with two touchdowns and one interception.

“We’re a second-half team, and today it just wasn’t clicking on all cylinders for us,” Becht said. “We had everything in our hands, we just needed to execute.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Becht exited after he was slammed to the turf on a sack which was ruled targeting. Becht exited the game thereafter and Connor Moberly took over for the rest of the drive before Becht returned for the remainder of the game.

“[Becht’s] a tough customer,” Campbell said. “He was demanding to get himself in there when he got cleared. Proud of him, but I think [Becht] will be just fine moving forward.”

To follow the drive with Becht’s pick, Iowa State turned the ball over a third time. It was Sama who lost it again.

Like the previous two drives after turnovers for Arizona State, the Sun Devils found the endzone again. Any chance the Cyclones had to get back in the game went away in the span of three drives that went as bad as they could have.

“It felt like that was going to be the key to this football game, the ability to take care of the football,” Campbell said. “Our inability to do that in the third quarter was just paralyzing.”

That third score was a 33-yard pass to Skattebo, who bullied his way through the Cyclones on the ground for 170 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

Iowa State’s best drive was its first of the game. The Cyclones used an 11-play, 75-yard drive to score a touchdown and take a 7-3 lead. Running back Carson Hansen had the score, his first reception touchdown of his career from four yards out.

Hansen finished his day as Iowa State’s leading rusher, with 52 yards on 10 carries.

Tight end Gabe Burkle also played a pivotal role on that drive and in the first quarter. He had three catches for 24 yards in the first, two of which set up goal-to-go situations for the Cyclones.

But after giving up a touchdown to the Sun Devils on the following drive, Iowa State never saw the lead again.

The first points that Iowa State got in the second half were on a goal-to-go situation on Moberly’s first drive where they settled for a field goal on the four-yard line to make the score 45-13.

On the following drive, wide receiver Jaylin Noel hauled in a 25-yard touchdown, his only one of the game. Noel caught five of his six targets for 64 yards.

Noel expressed his emotion after the game of playing for a Big 12 title in his senior year along with his fellow seniors.

“I love this team, I love this university,” Noel said. “For us to lose this game the way we did, everybody kept fighting though. I couldn’t be more proud of this team. I’ll be appreciative forever for what this team has done for me and what my brothers have done for me.”

Noel did confirm that he will play in the bowl game.

Though Noel caught a touchdown, it was Jayden Higgins who led the receiver room for Iowa State, as he had 115 yards on seven catches, after being targeted 12 times.

In the end, it was not enough for Iowa State to fight back from its mistake and turnover-prone third quarter to make enough of an effort to spark a massive comeback.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these kids, who they are, what they withstood through the season,” Campbell said. “Obviously you can’t make some of the mistakes we made against a team of this caliber.”