Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht believes the Cyclones have yet to peak during their best start in 86 years.

Carson Hansen rushed for three scores, Becht threw a touchdown pass and No. 11 Iowa State defeated West Virginia 28-16 on Saturday night.

The Cyclones (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) opened the season with six wins for the first time since 1938.

“I feel like we haven’t even played our best game yet as a whole: special teams, defense and offense,” Becht said. The goal is “finding ways to get better every week, and our mentality is just 0-0 and trying to win that next game.”

Iowa State tied for first place in the competition with BYU and inactive Texas Tech.

The Cyclones broke open a close game by scoring two touchdowns after intercepting West Virginia’s Garrett Greene in the second half.

Becht found Eli Green on passes of 12 and 34 yards on consecutive plays to set up the Cyclones at the West Virginia 17. A third-down holding call on West Virginia cornerback Ayden Garnes gave Iowa State first and goal on the 3, and Hansen scored on the next play early in the fourth quarter for a 21-10 lead.

Jontez Williams made his third interception of the season on West Virginia’s next drive, and Iowa State took over at the Mountaineers’ 34. Hansen ran 20 yards on the ensuing drive, capped by his 2-yard scoring run for a 28-10 lead. with 4:42 left.

Hansen, a sophomore who also scored on an 11-yard run in the second quarter, finished with 96 rushing yards, one shy of the career high he set against Baylor last week. He ran for a total of 67 yards during an injury-riddled freshman season.

“For him to consistently play the way he has over the last few weeks is great to see,” Becht said.

West Virginia (3-3, 2-1) was held to 148 rushing yards against the league’s top defense after amassing 389 yards on the ground a week ago at Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers were hurt by several high snaps that disrupted their timing and running parallel to the line of scrimmage lost yardage.

“In the second half, when it was time to win, we didn’t win,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. “We had trouble getting into a rhythm.”

Becht completed 18 of 26 passes for 265 yards, including a 60-yard scoring toss to Jaylin Noel in blown coverage in the second quarter.

Becht’s father, Anthony, was honored on the field after the first quarter for his induction into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He played tight end for the Mountaineers from 1996 to 1999 and 11 seasons in the NFL.

“You couldn’t ask for a better evening for his family,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said.

Rocco Becht said he wished he could have been there with his father, “but I had bigger things going on to win this game.”

Jahiem White had an 8-yard scoring run and a 10-yard touchdown catch for West Virginia. Greene finished 18 of 32 for 206 yards.

Iowa State: The Cyclones answered the challenge on both sides of the ball by winning their seventh straight road game. Becht played smart and efficiently, and the nation’s sixth-best scoring defense was stout again.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers made far too many mistakes in key moments and have now lost eight straight games to ranked opponents.

Iowa State could have a hard time moving up when the AP poll comes out Sunday. The Cyclones were tied with Notre Dame, which defeated Stanford 49-7.

Iowa State: Hosts UCF on Saturday night.

West Virginia: Hosts No. 18 Kansas State on Saturday night.

___ Receive notifications throughout the season about the latest AP Top 25 poll. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football