Iowa State rallies for 37-23 win over Kansas State

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Bret Meyer threw for one touchdown and ran for another, and Iowa State scored three TDs in the final 3 1/2 minutes to beat Kansas State 37-23 on Saturday and stay in control of the Big 12 North.

Stevie Hicks ran for a career-high 156 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown for Iowa State, which won its fourth straight and broke a 10-year losing streak against the Wildcats (4-7, 2-6 Big 12).

The Cyclones (6-4, 4-3) will win their first division title if they can beat Missouri next week in their regular-season finale.

The Wildcats, conference champions a year ago, finished with their worst record and first losing season since the 1992 team also went 4-7.

Darren Sproles ran for 167 yards and a touchdown in his final game for Kansas State, and quarterback Allen Webb ran for two scores -- but also committed two costly turnovers late in the fourth quarter.

Webb's second TD, a 1-yarder, put Kansas State up 23-9 on the third play of the fourth quarter. But Nik Moser blocked Joe Rheem's extra point, and the momentum from then on belonged to the Cyclones.

Meyer's 1-yard TD keeper with just under 10 1/2 minutes to go got the Cyclones within 23-16, and his 3-yard pass to Todd Miller -- set up by Todd Blythe's 51-yard catch to the Wildcats 9 -- tied it at 23 with 3:24 to go.

Kansas State appeared to catch a break when the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, but Webb fumbled two plays later and Tim Dobbins recovered at the Wildcats 35.

Hicks carried for 15 yards to the 20, then broke up the middle on the next play for a 30-23 lead. Then, on the first snap of Kansas State's next drive, LaMarcus Hicks intercepted Webb's pass and returned it 40 yards to put the Cyclones up 37-23.

Sproles, who moved into 10th place on the NCAA career list with 4,979 yards rushing, scored his touchdown after a bizarre series of plays early in the third quarter.

First, Iowa State's Terrance Highsmith muffed a punt at his own 26 and the Wildcats recovered. But the officials ruled that the whistle blew too early, and Kansas State had to kick again.

The Cyclones' Caleb Berg was called for roughing the punter on the re-kick, giving Kansas State a first down at Iowa State's 46. Two plays later, Sproles broke off right tackle for a 41-yard touchdown and a 17-6 lead.

Sproles' 36-yard carry set up Kansas State's first TD, Webb's 1-yard keeper for a 10-3 lead in the second quarter. That followed field goals of 30 yards by Iowa State's Bret Culbertson and 51 yards by Rheem.

Culbertson hit a 36-yarder late in the first half and cut Kansas State's lead to 17-9 with a 20-yarder early in the third.

Kansas State University Athletics

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