Five numbers that told the story of Iowa State football's loss to Big 12 foe Texas

AMES — With the loss to Texas on Saturday night, Iowa State officially fell out of contention for the Big 12 championship.

The Cyclones dropped to 6-5 overall and 5-3 in the conference, and out of the multi-team tie for the second-place spot. Texas’ win secured its hold on the top of the Big 12.

Let’s break down Iowa State’s loss to the Longhorns by the numbers, looking at which stats tell the game’s story.

Here are five figures that explain ISU’s loss to Texas.

17 … as in 17 touchdown passes from Rocco Becht this season

Iowa State’s redshirt freshman quarterback completed 24 passes for 323 yards and threw two touchdowns. Becht’s two-touchdown performance against Texas pushed him past Brock Purdy’s total of 16 in his first season to set the new Iowa State record for passing touchdowns by a freshman.

9 … as in Iowa State recorded nine total rushing yards

The Cyclones had just nine — yes, nine — net rushing yards against Texas. Abu Sama managed a total of 11 yards on seven carries. Eli Sanders picked up 10 yards on six attempts. Cartevious Norton had just two yards on three carries. Becht finished with -14 yards on five carries (three sacks contributed to that total).

It was the fewest rushing yards from Iowa State since the Cyclones posted minus-6 against Colorado in 2210. ISU lost that matchup, 34-14.

4 … as in four sacks from the Cyclones defense

Texas allowed just 18 sacks through the first 10 games of the season (1.8 per game). But Iowa State kept finding a way to Quinn Ewers and finished the night with four sacks. Joey Petersen sacked Ewers twice, and Tyler Onyedim and Trent Jones each recorded one sack.

2 … as in two total trips to the red zone

This game was about defense. The teams took offensive snaps inside the 20-yard line on just two possessions Saturday. Iowa State was the only team to capitalize from within the red zone, with a 14-yard pass from Becht to Sanders for Iowa State’s first touchdown of the game. Texas took snaps inside the red zone late in the fourth quarter, but by that point the Longhorns needed only to take a knee twice and let the clock run out.

2 … as in two tight ends who really helped Iowa State’s offense

On a night when Iowa State couldn’t get anything going on the ground, the Cyclones needed to be more creative in the air.

Wide receiver Jay Higgins had his second-most receiving yards in a game (104) this season.

Two of the Cyclones' top options in the tight end position put up solid stat lines against Texas’ stingy defense. Benjamin Brahmer made a couple of solid catches that resulted in first downs, including a 20-yard completion that set up Iowa State’s first touchdown. He finished the game with 49 yards on four catches. Easton Dean had only one catch, but he made it count. He grabbed a pass down the middle from Becht and took it 66 yards for the Cyclones' second — and final — touchdown of the night.

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football vs. Texas: 5 numbers explaining the Cyclones loss