Kyle Konrardy hit a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give Iowa State a 51-49 upset win over No. 24 Oklahoma State on Saturday night in Ames, Iowa.
Jaylen Raynor, who threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns, found his leading receiver Jamal Polite on a 33-yard pass to set up the game-winning kick for the Cyclones (4-4, 2-3 Big 12 Conference).
Polite had six catches for 171 yards with a touchdown while Aiden Flora was a force out of the Iowa State backfield, rushing for 221 yards and two scores on 29 carries.
The Cowboys (5-3, 3-2) had taken their first lead of the second half on Wyatt Young’s 9-yard touchdown reception with 53 seconds left, but a post-play personal foul on Young gave Iowa State better field position for its final drive.
Drew Mestemaker was 27-of-42 passing for 323 yards. Young and Justin Bowick each caught two of Mestemaker’s five touchdown passes. Caleb Hawkins ran for 194 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns.
It was an offensive showcase as the teams combined for 1,084 total yards.
Konrardy’s 39-yard field goal with 7 seconds left in the first half gave Iowa State a 24-21 lead at the break. It was set up by Caleb Schmidt’s recovery of Bobby Deal Jr.’s muffed punt at the OSU 36-yard line with 2:26 left in the half.
The teams traded touchdowns coming out of the halftime break. After Raynor’s 8-yard touchdown run on the Cyclones’ first drive of the third quarter, Hawkins responded with a 75-yard score 17 seconds later.
Cameron Pettaway’s 40-yard touchdown catch with 1:18 to go in the period extended the Iowa State lead to 38-28, only for Bowick to match it with a 41-yard score to cut it to a three-point deficit for the Cowboys with 11:19 remaining.
That only lasted 11 seconds as Flora took the first play of the ensuing Cyclones drive 75 yards for his second touchdown of the night.
Hawkins found the end zone on a 1-yard rush with exactly eight minutes remaining. The Oklahoma State defense came up with a stop to give their offense a chance to take the lead, but Beau Goodwin intercepted Mestemaker over the middle on the second play of the Oklahoma State possession.
Konrardy’s 29-yard field goal with 2:56 to go provided a 48-42 advantage for the Cyclones, only for the Cowboys to go up 49-48 on Young’s 7-yard TD reception with 53 seconds left — enough time for Iowa State to mount its game-winning drive.
