The Kansas State Wildcats ended their relatively underwhelming season with a loss to the Iowa State Cyclones (10-2).

Coach Chris Klieman put it simply: the turnovers were too much to overcome.

“Guys, I mean this is the most obvious thing,” Klieman said. “When we turn the ball over, we’re not going to be successful. We dropped two picks. I get it man, I appreciate the questions on things. We turned the ball over, and they didn’t. We had two opportunities with picks guys. Those hurt you bad.”

The Wildcats fumbled twice Saturday night, once on an game-opening lateral and again early in the second quarter. Both set up short fields for the Cyclones’ touchdown drives. They also dropped two would-be interceptions, adding to their turnover woes this season. Kansas State is bottom-five in the Big 12 in defensive takeaways. The offense has turned the ball over seven times in the last month to just three takeaways by the defense.”

You can’t play a team like that and make the mistakes that we made,” Klieman said. “We made mistakes in the first half that led to points, and you can’t do that against good football teams.”

Several hours after putting the finishing touches on the first 10-win season in program history, the Iowa State football team can begin the process of packing for Dallas.

The Cyclones (10-2, 7-2) will take on Arizona State (10-2, 7-2) next Saturday from AT&T Stadium for the Big 12 Conference championship. The winner will receive a bid to the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Iowa State had to wait out a BYU victory over Houston, which ended early in the morning Iowa time Sunday. Had Houston upset BYU in a meeting of Cougars, Colorado would have punched a ticket to the title game. 

This will be the second time the Cyclones have played for the Big 12 title. The first was in 2020 when they lost to Oklahoma, 27-21. 

Led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Rocco Becht, Iowa State features an offense that has big-play potential. Wide receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel have both surpassed 1,000 yards, making them the first Cyclone duo to achieve that feat.

Becht has thrown for 3,021 yards with 20 touchdowns, adding 272 yards and seven scores with his legs. Higgins has 80 receptions for 1,068 with nine touchdowns while Noel has 67 for 1,013 and six TDs.

Carson Hansen and Abu Sama III have over 1,000 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns.

The Sun Devils, led by Cam Skattebo, could be without the services of leading receiver Jordyn Tyson. He was injured in the win over Arizona with what is being reported as broken collarbone.

Skattebo has over 1,200 yards rushing while Sam Leavitt has over 2,100 yards passing on te season for head coach Kenny Dillingham, who has led a seven-win difference from last year.

Iowa State vs. Arizona State will kick off at 11 a.m. CT on ABC and Iowa State on SI will have complete coverage of the game.