Rocco Becht saves Cyclones with late touchdown drive in No. 9 Iowa State’s 38-35 win over UCF

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Rocco Becht scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard sneak with 30 seconds left, and Jontez Williams intercepted Jacurri Brown’s last pass to secure No. 9 Iowa State’s 38-35 comeback victory over UCF and allow the Cyclones to avoid a major upset Saturday night.

The Cyclones (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) have matched the 1938 ISU team for best start in program history, and they have won four straight conference games for the first time.

UCF (3-4, 1-3) lost its fourth straight after leading by two touchdowns early in the third quarter and rushing for 354 yards — a season-high 196 by RJ Harvey and 154 by Brown.

Becht completed a season-low 43% of his passes (20 of 46) and threw two interceptions, the first one returned for a touchdown and the second nearly a pick-six, but he ran a career-high 20 times for 97 yards.

Harvey’s 1-yard run put UCF up 35-27 with 11 minutes left after Braeden Marshall picked off Becht’s pass and ran it back 70 yards before dropping the ball just short of the goal line.

Kyle Konrardy’s 30-yard field goal got the Cyclones within five points, and after Iowa State forced two punts, Becht got the ball back with 1:48 left.

He teamed up with Jaylin Noel for two key passes and scrambled for a first down before a pass interference penalty set up the Cyclones at the UCF 4. Becht ran for 3 yards before bulling his way into the end zone for the winning touchdown.

The Takeaway

UCF: The Knights ran for the most yards against the Cyclones since Matt Campbell’s first team gave up 469 yards to Baylor in 2016.

Iowa State: The Cyclones have had the Big 12’s best defense but has struggled stopping the run.

Poll Implications

Iowa State should hold steady in the Top 25, if not move up a bit.

Up Next

UCF: hosts No. 13 BYU next Saturday.

Iowa State: hosts Texas Tech on Nov. 2 following an open date.