AMES, Iowa — — Rocco Becht threw for a score and ran for a score to lead Iowa State to a 34-17 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday night.

The Cyclones (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) used a second-half push to help overcome the stubborn Bearcats (5-5, 3-4).

Stevo Klotz caught Becht’s lone touchdown pass, a 26-yarder that put Iowa State ahead for good 17-10 with 10:04 left in the third quarter. Klotz, a senior tight end, has two touchdowns in as many games against Cincinnati.

“He was incredible for us today,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said of Klotz.

Becht’s rushing touchdown came off a high snap in which he took the ball 15 yards to the house to give Iowa State a 27-17 lead with about 4 minutes to play. He finished the game as the leading rusher, while Becht ran for 48 yards on seven attempts.

“When I have the ball in my hands, I can play with it,” Becht said.

Carson Hansen scored a 2-yard score for the Cyclones’ first touchdown of the game, his team-high ninth touchdown this season, and Abu Sama III capped the scoring with a 27-yard TD run with 1:09 to play.

“It was great to see our guys compete and stay with it and do those things really well,” Campbell said.

Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby had 66 yards on 11-of-19 passing, but led the Bearcats with 141 yards rushing on 14 carries with a 41-yard score. Evan Pryor opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run.

“I think we obviously did some good things tonight, but we also did some bad things,” Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield said. “Against good football teams you can’t make mistakes in the last six minutes, so we have to do better.”

The takeaway

Cincinnati: The Bearcats committed a whopping 13 penalties on Saturday, 11 of which were against the foul.

Iowa State: The Cyclones found a way to score on three of their five possessions in the second half, helping end their two-game skid and keeping their playoff hopes alive.

It’s fake!:

With 5:19 left in the third quarter, the Cyclones prepared to punt the ball back to the Bearcats, but they faked Klotz, who ran the ball 22 yards to get Iowa State in range for a possible field goal.

Next

Cincinnati: Visits No. 16 Kansas State next Saturday.

Iowa State: Visits Utah next Saturday.

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