If Skylar Thompson throws a better ball to Phillip Brooks, the pass isn't incomplete and they have the ball first and goal going in for a score. That would have made it a 20-14 game at halftime instead, and getting the ball first out of halftime with a chance to take the lead.

Even after the incomplete pass to Brooks, to make matters worse, Taiten Winkel missed a field goal at the wrong time.

A 20-yard pass to Tyrone Howell was called back because of an illegal man downfield. Cooper Beebe was dinged for a false start penalty right after Iowa State got away with a defensive holding call.

They lost all fundamentals and didn't begin the game with enough focus and surrendered a 75-yard touchdown run to Breece Hall on the very first defensive snap of the game. Three other points came off a Skylar Thompson interception.

Was it a poor throw? It surely wasn't great. And it probably should have went to Phillip Brooks along the right sideline instead. With that all being said, it is a ball that Malik Knowles should catch, too.

Speaking of catches, Brooks has an easy ball tossed to him to convert a third down on the first drive of the second half and he drops it with nobody around him. It was an easy first down conversion.

They responded to that gaffe by getting a stop on defense the very next possession, but it was wiped away because of an illegal substitution penalty.

Again, little plays that don't mean a ton can have immeasurable influence on the outcome of a game. Every play matters. Good football teams make those plays. They need to figure out if they want to be a good football team and quickly before the answer is made for them.

The Cyclones made it for them tonight. They showed they were more talented and made far fewer mistakes.

I covered many of the offensive mistakes above. The defensive mistakes were just as plentiful. The two long Breece Hall runs were a result of missed run fits instead of poor tackling. They didn't get their hands down on him until he was 50 yards downfield.

However, I'm not sure what that matters when every quarterback that has seemed pedestrian against many of their opponents this season, have looked exemplary against Kansas State.

Spencer Sanders has been rough. Spencer Rattler is no longer the starter. Brock Purdy has been turnover-prone all season. But against the Wildcats, all three were marvelous and that's not really a debate.

Kansas State has lost two consecutive home games. They've lost their first three league games of the year. They've lost three games in a row this season. And dating back to last season, they've lost eight consecutive league games in a row.

Oh, and for wanting Farmageddon to be a rivalry, they've lost three out of the last four to Iowa State. And let the Cyclones win in Manhattan for the first time since 2004.

It's as bad as it sounds. There's not any commentary that can be applied to that. It speaks for itself.

The reason I called this a big game for the Wildcats was because of how tough it would be, from a psychological standpoint, to bounce back from all the realities above and do so on the road against Texas Tech.

That's a weird place to play every year and they are having some semblance of success this season. They have league wins over West Virginia and Kansas and three non-conference victories in their pocket just like K-State.

But is the culture 100 percent repaired? Are they tough enough mentally to put the letdowns behind them and respond favorable away from home? Is the locker strong strong enough to withstand all the negative press they are about to absorb?

Saturday in Lubbock against Texas Tech is a gut check game.