STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Rocco Becht passed for a touchdown, Abu Sama ran for a score and Iowa State defeated Oklahoma State 20-13 on Saturday in the final regular-season game for both teams.
Kyle Konrardy kicked field goals of 45 and 34 yards for Iowa State (8-4 overall, 5-4 Big 12), which rushed for 231 yards. The Cyclones' defense limited Oklahoma State's offense to 219 yards and forced two turnovers.
“For this group to never waver, never flinch and, actually, just keep getting better through it is incredible,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “What a great testament to their belief and their ability to stay the course.
"They’ve given themselves the chance to do what very few teams at Iowa State have done,” Campbell said, referring to the Cyclones' shot at nine wins, which has happened four times previously including last season's 11-3 mark.
Zane Flores threw a touchdown pass and Logan Ward kicked two field goals for Oklahoma State (1-11, 0-9), which has lost 18 of 19 games and 19 straight against conference opponents.
“To be able to continuously show up here every week and fight when a lot of kids nowadays probably would have just laid down, it's pretty special to watch that even though we didn't get the outcome,” Oklahoma State interim coach Doug Meacham said. “It would have been nice to finish it up like that, but life's not a fairy tale. Life's reality, and the reality is we didn't do enough to win, but we definitely fought and I appreciate those guys and I always will.”
Becht threw a 16-yard scoring pass to Chase Sowell following a fumble recovery to give the Cyclones a 10-0 lead.
After punting three times and losing a fumble on their first four possessions, Oklahoma State drove 80 yards for their only score of the first half, a 1-yard run by Trent Howland to make it 10-7 at halftime.
Iowa State extended the lead to 17-7 on a 40-yard burst by Sama, who finished with 87 yards on 12 carries.
The news wasn't all bad for Oklahoma State. On Tuesday, the team announced the selection of North Texas' Eric Morris as its new head football coach. Morris has North Texas contending for a conference championship and College Football Playoff berth. The Mean Green are No. 21 in the AP Top 25.
Morris will step in for Mike Gundy, who was fired in September during his 21st season. Meacham was 0-9 as the interim coach.
Iowa State: The Cyclones reached eight wins for the fifth time under coach Matt Campbell and the 13th time in program history.
Oklahoma State: The Cowboys kept it close down the stretch, losing their last three games by a total of 21 points, but couldn't score enough points to get their first win under Meacham.
Oklahoma State recognized 20 seniors before the game, including starting safety Parker Robertson, a walk-on who likely played his last football game. Robertson led the Cowboys with seven solo tackles and had one of the team's four quarterback hits.
Iowa State's win had special significance for Campbell, who turned 46 on Saturday. It also marked the 10-year anniversary of Campbell being hired by Iowa State, where he is the winningest coach in program history with a mark of 72-55.
Iowa State will play in a bowl game.
Oklahoma State's season has ended.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
We're excited to announce our India Community Travel in Spring 2026! Join this virtual Zoom … Read moreTravel to India Information Session (Online)
“A dazzling delight for all ages” Read moreRodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.