For West Virginia, the moment was there for the taking. No. 11 Iowa State rolled into Morgantown on Saturday night as the Mountaineers had the opportunity to get a marquee win and remain undefeated in Big 12 play.

Instead of getting the signature win they desperately craved, West Virginia once again failed to meet the moment, falling to Iowa State, 28-16, at Milan Puskar Stadium.

West Virginia (3-3, 2-1 Big 12) trailed the 11th-ranked team in the nation by only four points at halftime. However, in the second half, West Virginia’s defense did all they could early, but the Mountaineer offense continuously shot themselves in the foot, as missed opportunities never put the game in doubt for the Cyclones.

On two consecutive drives, Garrett Greene threw interceptions to Iowa State (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) players, the first where he practically handed it to ISU’s Jamison Patton, who got the pick. After an Iowa State touchdown drive, WVU then trailed by 11, and Greene, again, threw it into trouble, as Jontez Williams got the interception this time, closing the door on any opportunity for an upset.

West Virginia likely could not have scripted a better first quarter than the one they had to start the game Saturday night. They kicked things off with an opening touchdown drive, which lasted 7:42, ending with an 8-yard touchdown rush from Jahiem White as WVU struck first.

The Mountaineer defense then got an unconventional stop as Iowa State’s offense drove down the field, but after a third-down sack from Asani Redwood, they pushed a field goal attempt backward, and Cyclone kicker Kyle Konrardy missed from 47 yards.

WVU ended the quarter driving in Iowa State territory, but that flame quickly burned out. WVU seemed to have converted a key third down, setting them up right outside the Iowa State 10, but after review, it was ruled an incompletion, and Michael Hayes missed a 36-yard field goal.

Three plays later, Iowa State’s Jaylin Noel was running untouched down the middle of the field on a 60-yard touchdown, tying the game 7-7 with 13:05 to play in the second quarter.

Iowa State forced a punt before their offense once again went right down the field on a 91-yard drive, spanning 17 plays and taking more than eight minutes off the game clock, taking a 14-7 lead.

West Virginia stalled on their return drive, as Hayes knocked in a 43-yard field goal, going to halftime with Iowa State in front, 14-10.

To open the second half, WVU forced a punt, but it quickly ended as West Virginia was forced to punt. The Mountaineer defense then forced another punt before Greene threw his first interception. Iowa State then pieced it together on offense, as they went on a 10-play touchdown drive, finished off with a 3-yard touchdown rush from Carson Hansen.

Following Greene’s second interception, Hansen was the main factor, gaining five yards on a fourth-down rush before the drive ended with him scoring on a 2-yard touchdown rush as Iowa State took a commanding 28-10 lead with 4:42 to play.

Hansen finished the day rushing for 96 yards and three touchdowns on 20 rushing attempts. Iowa State QB Rocco Becht, whose dad was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame during the game, completed 18 of his 26 pass attempts for 265 yards and a score.

Greene passed for 206 yards, completing 56.3 percent of his passes. White rushed for 46 yards on 12 rushes. Kole Taylor led all WVU receivers with 55 receiving yards.

WVU added a score with 1:10 to play as White scored on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Greene before they would fail to convert on the two-point conversion.

West Virginia is now 3-16 against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 since the start of the 2019 season, with their last win coming in 2021.

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