Kansas Escapes Cyclones, 31-28

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Carl Nesmith blocked Mike McKnight's 34-yard field goal attempt with 26 seconds left and Kansas, which almost blew a 10-point lead in the final minutes, held on to beat Iowa State 31-28 Saturday in a season finale.

Joe Garcia, who had missed two field goal tries, made good on a 29-yarder that gave the Jayhawks a 31-21 lead with 4:57 left.

But Sage Rosenfels marched the Cyclones right down field and his third TD pass of the day, an 11-yarder to Michael Brantley, made it 31-28 with 2:54 left.

Then Reggie Hayward recovered Moran Norris' fumble on the Iowa State 45, and Rosenfels hit a 10-yard pass to the 22 on fourth down to set up McKnight's try at the tying field goal.

Dylen Smith ran for one touchdown and passed for another as Kansas finished its third season under Terry Allen 5-7 overall and 3-5 in the Big 12, a one-game improvement over the previous season.

Rosenfels hit 22 of 36 passes for 332 yards and three TDs and also ran for a score. The Cyclones ended the season with a five-game losing streak and wound up 4-7 and 1-7 in Dan McCarney's fifth year.

A victory in any of the last five games would have given them their first five-win season since 1989.

Iowa State's Darren Davis, the Big 12's leading rusher, finished with 75 yards on 22 carries, giving him 1,388 for the year and 3,763 for his career - second place on the Cyclones' list behind his brother Troy's 4,382.

Reggie Moorer caught a 48-yard touchdown pass from Rosenfels four minutes into the second half, beating Andrew Davison and pulling the Cyclones even at 14-all. But Smith, who had sat out a series after being shaken up, came back to lead a seven-play, 79-yard touchdown drive capped by his own 17-yard run.

A few minutes later, Davison intercepted Rosenfels' pass and returned it 35 yards to the Iowa State 8. Norris, on fourth and inches, plowed across the goal line for a 28-14 lead with 13:31 left.

Rosenfels hit Chris Anthony for 35 yards to key an 80-yard march climaxed by Rosenfels' 2-yard touchdown run that drew Iowa State to 28-21 with 9:03 to play. But then Garcia connected for the 10-point margin.

Players Mentioned

Chris Anthony

Darren Davis

Reggie Hayward

Mike McKnight

Sage Rosenfels

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics