The stakes were higher for Iowa State, but the result was the same as before in their second appearance in the Big 12 championship game.
The 112-year wait for a conference title will continue.
No. 16 Iowa State was hoping for a spot in the College Football Playoff but lost 45-19 to 12th-ranked Arizona State on Saturday. This loss was different from their first trip to the Big 12 championship, when they fell to Oklahoma four years ago.
The Sun Devils (No. 15 CFP) are now in the expanded 12-team playoff, possibly as the 12th seed due to their conference’s automatic bid.
In the 2020 season, neither Iowa State nor Oklahoma had a real chance to make it into the four-team playoff. Oklahoma won that game 27-21.
“I think those things sting for sure,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “You remember the losses way more than you remember the wins, and especially when you don’t play to what you’re capable of playing. Those things will haunt you, and the reality is it’s still what drives you, what wakes you up every day to come in and be your absolute best.”
Brock Purdy threw three interceptions in the 2020 loss. He was still a year away from being picked as the last player in the NFL draft and later helping San Francisco reach a Super Bowl.
This time, Iowa State’s chances of making a comeback from a two-touchdown deficit at halftime were lost after Abu Sama III fumbled early in the third quarter, followed by an interception thrown by Rocco Becht.
These turnovers led to touchdown catches for Xavier Guillory, giving the Sun Devils a 38-10 lead with 6 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.
Another fumble by Abu made things worse, with Cam Skattebo catching a short pass for a 33-yard touchdown to go with his 170 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
A fourth giveaway was avoided when Shamari Simmons forced a fumble from Becht, but the call was overturned after review. Simmons was flagged for targeting, and Becht stayed down before returning to the game.
“We’re a second-half team, and today it just wasn’t clicking on all cylinders for us,” said Becht, who was 21 of 35 for 214 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. “We had everything in our hands and we just needed to execute. At the end of the day, we just didn’t.”
Iowa State (No. 16 CFP), which finished 10-3 in the first 10-win season in the program’s 133-year history, actually led 7-3 when Becht threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Carson Hansen, extending his streak to 17 consecutive games with a touchdown pass.
But despite having the nation’s only quarterback with two 1,000-yard receivers, Becht couldn’t get much production from them before the game was decided.
When Arizona State extended its lead to 45-10 in the third quarter, Jayden Higgins had four catches for 58 yards, and Jaylin Noel had just two for 25. Higgins finished with 115 yards, while Noel scored a touchdown and had 64 yards.
Iowa State is still looking for its first conference title since 1912 when they went 2-0 in the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association during a 6-2 season. That was the year after they won the Missouri Valley title with a 2-0-1 record in a 6-1-1 season.
“The reality from our end is we had some opportunities late in the season to put ourselves probably in the best situation,” Campbell said. “Those are great lessons learned, and we’ll grow with it. Young football team that’s got the ability to grow forward for sure.”
