If Iowa State did something wrong Saturday, the numbers don't seem to show it.
The Cyclones set a school record with 102 offensive plays and collected 415 yards of offense, the second-most in Iowa State football history. They also beat Nebraska in time of possession, with nearly 40 minutes of offense compared to NU's 20 minutes.
But then there is that one category - turnovers.
The positive statistics mattered very little to ISU Coach Gene Chizik following the Cyclones' 35-17 loss to the Cornhuskers. With four turnovers and several missed opportunities, none of the winning categories mattered at all.
"It came down to a lot of big plays, and they cost us, both on offense and defense," Chizik said. "When you lose the ball four times, especially against a team like Nebraska, there's just no way you're going to win. It came down to those things."
From the start the Cyclones were frustrated.
They opened the game with a fumble to cap a 12-play drive. Nebraska did not covert the turnover to points because of a fumble by junior Marlon Lucky, but ISU was only able to get a field goal on its second drive of the game.
And when NU quarterback Sam Keller threw an interception on the Huskers' second drive of the first quarter, Iowa State failed to convert that to a field goal or a touchdown, thanks to a quick three-and-out.
ISU quarterback Bret Meyer said the offense's inability to create momentum on its side of the ball is what kept the Cyclones from winning.
Meyer said Iowa State's defense did its job by forcing Nebraska into two fumbles and an interception as well as holding NU to zero points until less than five minutes were left in the half.
"Any time our defense is playing that good and getting us the ball back, we need to convert on the opportunity more than we did," Meyer said.
Trying to keep the Huskers at bay after their late second-quarter score, the Cyclones attempted a fake punt to convert a fourth-and-five at the Nebraska 37-yard line, but the try fell a yard short.
Chizik said he was happy with his call, since the team had worked on the play throughout the week.
"That was close," he said. "I think that would have really been a situation our football team would have fed off of if we could have gained the momentum of converting that. They made a great play on it, and it was the right call, and I'd call it again."
Closing the deal after halftime, the Huskers notched a quick touchdown and later intercepted a pass and ran 93 yards for the defensive touchdown.
The interception was mistake number three.
"You can sit here and look at time of possession, you can look at total yards, you can look at all those things and make yourself feel good, but at the end of the day right now we got beat and we got beat good," Chizik said. "So all that stuff doesn't matter to me. I look at the final result, and the final result is not good, and I won't even pretend to be happy with it."
KATELYNKERKHOVE@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
is a member of the 
