Cyclone Upset Bid Falls Short, 28-24

BOULDER, Colo.- Iowa State had its chance to pull off a road upset, driving 60 yards to the Colorado 1-yard line with three seconds left before Alexander Robinson was stuffed for a two-yard loss to secure the Buffalo win, 28-24, Saturday at Folsom Field.

Colorado got into the end zone in its two previous drives, using drives of two and three minutes, respectively, to go ahead 28-24 with just a minute and a half remaining in the game. On the final CU drive, the Buffs went 81 yards, capped by a 5-yard pass from Cody Hawkins to Cody Crawford.

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Leonard Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards, setting up the ISU offense on its own 39-yard line with 1:22 left in the game. Arnaud hit two passes and Robinson ran for a 27-yard gain putting the Cyclones on the CU 14-yard line with 40 seconds left. ISU got to the 1-yard line with three seconds left, setting up the final play of the game before being stopped by the Buffalo defense.

Colorado improved to 5-5 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12, while ISU dropped to 2-8 on the season and 0-6 in the league.

Iowa State's initial drive after a CU missed field goal covered 72 yards in 11 plays over 4:47. Grant Mahoney's 24-yard field goal made it 3-0 in favor of the Cyclones with 7:06 left in the first quarter.

On Colorado's next two drives, Jameson Davis missed field-goal attempts of 38 and 29 yards. Neither team could move the ball through much of the first half. Leonard Johnson's second interception of the season set up a 14-play, 65-yard drive with Jason Scales scoring his 10th career touchdown from one-yard out to give the Cyclones a 10-0 halftime lead. Iowa State's defense did its part in the first half, holding Colorado to just 110 yards of total offense.

Colorado came out firing with new quarterback Cody Hawkins, son of head coach Dan Hawkins, after ISU went three-and-out after the opening kickoff.

The Buffaloes marched 63 yards in nine plays over 3:47. On fourth-and goal at the Iowa State 4, Hawkins hit wide receiver Scott McKnight for the touchdown. ISU's Nate Frere blocked the extra-point attempt and it was 10-6. On Colorado's next drive Hawkins drove the Buffaloes down the field before hitting McKinight on a 22-yard TD pass to put CU up 13-10.

This time ISU answered immediately. A nifty 26-yard run by Arnaud and a face mask penalty after a pass to Darius Darks put the ball at the Colorado 14. Robinson broke several tackles on the next play to put Iowa State back into the lead, 17-13. The three-play drive took just 52 seconds.

The third-quarter ended with Iowa State holding its lead. After forcing Colorado to punt, Arnaud hit tight end Collin Franklin on a 53-yard pass play. Two plays later Arnaud made a pitch to Robinson and he scored around the right end for a 24-14 lead with 9:14 left in the game.

But Colorado came right back, driving right down the field, 80 yards in eight plays, and Hawkins passed to Patrick Williams. A successful two-point conversion left Iowa State clinging to a 24-21 lead with 7:05 left in the game.

Arnaud completed 16 passes for 215 yards, while Robinson and Scales combined for three rushing touchdowns. Robinson ran for 101 yards, the third 100-yard rushing game of his career. Hawkins completed 20-29 passes for 226 yards and a career-high four TDs for the Buffaloes.

Iowa State returns home for a contest against Missouri at 5:30 p.m. next Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.

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Players Mentioned

Darius Darks

Collin Franklin

Collin Franklin

Nate Frere

Nate Frere

Leonard Johnson

Grant Mahoney

Alexander Robinson

Alexander Robinson

Jason Scales

Jason Scales

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