FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Aiden Flora returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown with 6:32 left and Iowa State snapped a four-game losing streak with a 20-17 win at TCU on Saturday.
Flora ran to the right after fielding the 51-yard punt, then cut back to an open gap in the middle of the field for a sprint to the end zone for the Cyclones (6-4, 3-4 Big 12), who hadn't won since a 5-0 start this season to move up to 14th in the AP poll at the time.
“This is a great win for us,” said cornerback Tre Bell, who had an early interception and had a big forced fumble late. “I pray this builds more momentum for us going into the rest of the season.”
TCU (6-3, 3-3) was driving when Bell stripped the ball from running back Jeremy Payne at the end of a 28-yard run. Drew Surges recovered the fumble at the Cyclones 12, and quarterback Rocco Becht extended that drive with a 9-yard keeper around the left side on fourth-and-1 from their 40 on the first play after the two-minute timeout.
“We have to close games out better, obviously," TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. "I don’t know if closing games out is necessarily the issue as much as making critical mistakes.”
Carson Hansen ran for 108 yards with a 1-yard TD in the fourth quarter for Iowa State. Becht was only 9-of-24 passing for 111 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, both by Bud Clark.
Josh Hoover was 34-of-50 passing for 302 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for the Horned Frogs. TCU had two 100-yard receivers with 11 catches: Jordan Dwyer for 108 yards and Eric McAlister for 107.
Bell's interception in the first quarter set up Iowa State's first TD, a 23-yard reception by 6-foot-7 tight end Benjamin Brahmer. He caught the ball around the 10 with his back to the goal line, then lunged through four defenders while extending his body into the end zone for a 6-0 lead with a missed extra point.
Brahmer's touchdown came a week after he was carted off the field following a hard hit in the fourth quarter of a loss to Arizona State. He said the hit caused a bruised lung, and that he passed out after initially getting up to his feet.
“I kind of got the wind knocked out so bad that I couldn’t breathe at all. ... It looked a lot worse than it actually was,” said Brahmer, who practiced all week.
Iowa State: The Cyclones, despite being outgained 432 total yards to 272, won for the 10th time in their last 14 road games and became bowl eligible.
“We just keep showing up. We keep plugging away at this thing,” linebacker Kooper Ebel said. “I think it speaks a lot to the character of this team. We show up every day with the same attitude, regardless of result.”
TCU: This was a tough loss for TCU, which was coming off an open date after winning three of its four games in October. Hoover threw both of his interceptions in the first quarter and the Frogs trailed 6-3 at halftime after Nate McCashland, who had made a 35-yarder, had his 25-yard attempt ricochet off the right upright just before the break.
Iowa State has an open date before hosting Kansas on Nov. 22.
TCU plays next Saturday at No. 8 BYU (8-1, 5-1), which is coming off its first loss.
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
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