AMES, Iowa — – Rocco Becht scored the go-ahead goal on a 1-yard sneak with 30 seconds left, and Jontez Williams intercepted Jacurri Brown’s final pass to cap No. 9 Iowa State’s comeback win over UCF by 38- 35 and the Cyclones must avoid a major upset on Saturday night.

“I was just doing my job,” said Williams, who has had an interception in four straight games. “The ball just came to me and I made the play.”

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

UCF (3-4, 1/3 Big 12) lost its fourth straight after blowing a two-touchdown lead early in the third quarter, rushing for 354 yards — a season-high 196 from RJ Harvey and 154 from Brown.

“They have great players with two phenomenal athletes,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said. “This was the most athletically talented team we have played this year.”

Becht completed 43% of his passes on the season (20 of 46) and threw two interceptions, the first 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 ahead 35-27 with 11 minutes left after Braeden Marshall picked off Becht’s pass and ran back 70 yards before dropping the ball just short of the goal line.

Kyle Konrardy’s 30-yard field goal brought 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 three yards before making his way into the end zone for the winning touchdown.

“The precision and detail were there on that drive and we executed it well,” Becht said.

The takeaway

UCF: The Knights rushed 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 have struggled to stop the run.

Survey implications

Iowa State should remain steady in the Top 25, if not rise a bit.

Next

UCF: Hosts No. 13 BYU this Saturday.

Iowa State: Hosts Texas Tech on Nov. 2 after an open date.

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