Rocco Becht scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard sneak with just 30 seconds remaining, and Jontez Williams intercepted Jacurri Brown’s final pass to help No. 9 Iowa State secure a 38-35 comeback win over UCF, preventing a significant upset on Saturday night.
“I was just doing my job,” Williams said, noting that he has had an interception in four consecutive games. “The ball has just been coming to me and I’ve been making the play.”
The Cyclones (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) have matched the best start in the program’s history, which was set by the 1938 ISU team, and they have won four straight conference games for the first time.
UCF (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) has lost four games in a row after initially leading by two touchdowns early in the third quarter and rushing for a total of 354 yards, with RJ Harvey gaining 196 yards and Brown adding 154 yards.
“They’ve got great players with two phenomenal athletes,” said Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. “This was the most athletically talented team we’ve played this year.”
Becht completed only 43% of his passes (20 out of 46) and threw two interceptions; the first was returned for a touchdown, and the second almost resulted in a pick-six. However, he also ran a career-high 20 times for 97 yards.
Harvey’s 1-yard touchdown run put UCF ahead 35-27 with 11 minutes left after Braeden Marshall intercepted Becht’s pass and ran it back 70 yards before fumbling just short of the goal line.
Kyle Konrardy’s 30-yard field goal narrowed the gap for the Cyclones, and after Iowa State forced two punts, Becht received the ball again with 1:48 left.
He connected with Jaylin Noel for two important passes and scrambled for a first down. A pass interference penalty then moved the Cyclones to the UCF 4-yard line. Becht ran for 3 yards before pushing into the end zone for the winning touchdown.
“The precision and detail was there on that drive and we executed it well,” Becht said.
