Late breaks go wrong for Iowa State in loss to Texas

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas believes it’s a tougher, more resilient team than last season — and the Longhorns are showing that so far this fall.

The latest evidence came Saturday when No. 22 Texas, trailing struggling Iowa State in the fourth quarter, rallied for a 24-21 victory.

Quinn Ewers threw for three touchdowns, including the go-ahead, 3-yard pass to Xavier Worthy with 4:43 left. Linebacker Jaylan Ford committed two turnovers, including a fumble recovery with 2:28 left in the game.

Bijan Robinson rushed for 135 yards, his fifth straight game to top 100, against the Big 12’s top defense.

The Longhorns (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) snapped a three-game losing streak against Iowa State and handed the Cyclones (3-4, 0-4) their fourth straight loss.

Texas went 5-7 a year ago, Steve Sarkisian’s first as coach. The Longhorns worked to make sure that didn’t happen this fall.

“This is completely different than last year,” Robinson said. “In my opinion, we would have lost the game last year.”

There were indications that Texas might lose this one as well. Iowa State moved to the Texas 32 with two receptions by its spectacular receiver, Xavier Hutchinson. But Hutchinson also lost a debt on Texas 9,

“I was wrong,” Hutchinson said. “The way I look at it, if I get that shot, we’re probably going to win.”

The Cyclones were still in position to pull off the upset win, but quarterback Hunter Dekkers fumbled at the 32. Anthony Cook forced a fumble, Ford recovered, and officials conducted a video review to determine whether Dekkers’ knee was down or there was targeting from side of Texas.

Both reviews went the Longhorns’ way.

“When I saw the ball in the outfield, I’ve got to go get it,” Ford said. “Call Cook. He went down with a big hit of the ball.”

Iowa State, whose offense has struggled to score this season, had a chance to go on a 14-0 run six minutes into the second quarter. But Deckers’ pass was intercepted by Ford in the end zone.

The Longhorns then moved 80 yards to tie the game on a 15-yard pass from Ewers to Worthy. Less than six minutes later, Ewers connected with Jordan Whittington for a 5-yard touchdown.

Texas added a field goal in the third quarter, but couldn’t put Iowa State down. First, Dekkers found sophomore Jaylin Noel over the middle for a 54-yard touchdown, his second of the game. Deckers, a first-year sophomore starter, completed 25 of 36 for a career-best 329 yards.

The Cyclones took their last lead, 21-17, on Dekkers’ 11-yard run up the middle with 10:58 left.

“I’m so proud of him,” coach Matt Campbell said. “It’s hard to fight through the growth process when the ball is in your hands on every play.”

Texas responded to Dekkers’ run with an 11-play 75-yard drive for the go-ahead score. Ewers connected with Robinson for 13 yards on third-and-six on the drive.

“We didn’t play well,” Sarkisian said. “But we played hard, and we played hard. Generally, it’s a sign of a pretty good team when you can’t play your best football, but you find a way to win.”