AMES, Iowa _ Now Kansas State knows how it feels.
After a decade of defeating Iowa State in the most agonizing ways possible, the Wildcats blew a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost 42-38, the highest-scoring Farmageddon game of all time, on Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.
It was a fitting end to what was a mostly disappointing season for K-State.
At times, the Wildcats looked legitimately good against the Cyclones and put themselves in position to extend both their winning streak in this series (to 11) and their bowl streak (to nine) under coach Bill Snyder. But they missed out on both rewards.
With the loss, K-State (5-7, 3-6 Big 12) lost to Iowa State (7-4, 6-3) for the first time since 2007 and will miss out on a bowl for the first time since 2009.
The Wildcats led 38-21 with 12:27 remaining in the fourth quarter, then the Cyclones took over.
Iowa State began its comeback with a quick touchdown drive that was capped by a short touchdown pass from Brock Purdy to Sam Seonbuchner. That made the score 38-28 with 10:18 to go.
But the game flipped Iowa State's way on a defensive touchdown from Mike Rose on the following series. On the play, Rose hit Kansas State quarterback Skylar Thompson from behind and forced him to fumble. The ball fell directly into Rose's hands, and he sprinted untouched into the end zone.
Iowa State was very much back in the game, down 38-35, four minutes after falling behind by 17.
Unlike previous years, when Iowa State had fumbled away late leads in this series, it stormed back to win in dramatic fashion in this one. The Cyclones erased their deficit and scored a go-ahead touchdown on a nifty run from David Montgomery with 6:45 remaining.
K-State had an opportunity to take a late lead and put the pressure back on Iowa State, but it was unable to do so.
The ending spoiled an otherwise good day for Thompson, who led the offense with an impressive day at quarterback by completing 18 of 27 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns. Alex Barnes was his usual self at running back, breaking loose for 184 yards.
Kevion McGee also had two interceptions.
But Iowa State was the stronger team behind Purdy, Montgomery and receiver Hakeem Butler.
It was a back-and-forth affair the whole way.
Kansas State entered the game as a double-digit underdog, but you never would have known it.
The Wildcats took a 21-14 halftime lead over the Cyclones, and they looked good doing so.
Other than a few shaky moments early on, K-State dominated the first half in typical Famageddon fashion. It seemed like this might finally be Iowa State's day in this rivalry when K-State's Isaiah Zuber botched a fair-catch attempt on the opening kickoff and the Wildcats started their opening drive from their own 2.
It wasn't a sign of things to come.
Iowa State scored first on a short touchdown pass from Purdy to Butler, but K-State answered back with an 11-play, 71-yard drive that was capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by Barnes.
They went back and forth from there. Farmageddon is always a close game, and this meeting was going to be no different.
The Cyclones pulled ahead 14-7 on a short touchdown run by Montgomery. The score was tied a few minutes later when K-State quarterback Thompson found the end zone on a keeper. He had to fight for every yard on his way into the end zone, with right tackle Dalton Risner giving him a physical assist at the last moment.
From there, Iowa State appeared poised to surge back ahead and potentially take control before receiving the opening kickoff of the third quarter. That's when good fortune shined on the Wildcats.
Iowa State entered the red zone and celebrated what was originally ruled a touchdown pass to Butler, but a holding penalty negated the score. That forced the Cyclones to attempt a field goal, which they badly missed.
K-State had to punt after three unsuccessful plays, yet even that worked out for the Wildcats when Colby Moore forced and recovered a fumble with the coverage unit.
That gave the Wildcats the ball at the Iowa State 34 with 46 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Taking advantage of scoring opportunities in the red zone has hardly been K-State's forte lately, but Thompson capitalized on the field position three plays later when he found Zuber in the back of the end zone with a well-thrown pass over his back shoulder.
The game went back and forth from there until Iowa State surged ahead and finally won a Farmageddon game in dramatic fashion.
