AP PHOTO - Iowa State wide receiver Brett Eskildsen (81) breaks a tackle by Cincinnati linebacker Montay Weedon after catching a pass during the second half of a Big 12 Conference football game Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.

AMES — Rocco Becht threw for a score and ran for a score to lead Iowa State to a 34-17 win over Cincinnati on Saturday night.

The Cyclones (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) used a second-half push to help overcome the tenacious Bearcats (5-5, 3-4).

Stevo Klotz caught Becht’s only touchdown pass, a 26-yarder that gave Iowa State the lead for good at 17-10 with 10:04 left in the third quarter. Klotz, a senior tight end, has two touchdowns in as many games against Cincinnati.

“He was incredible today for us,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said about Klotz.

Becht’s rushing touchdown came from a high snap, in which he took it 15 yards to the house to give Iowa State a 27-17 lead with about 4 minutes to play. He finished the game as the leading rusher, as Becht ran for 48 yards on seven attempts.

“Whenever the ball is in my hands, I can make a play with it,” Becht said.

Carson Hansen ran in a 2-yard score for the Cyclones’ first touchdown of the game, his team-high ninth touchdown this season, and Abu Sama III capped the scoring with a 27-yard TD run with 1:09 to play.

“To watch our guys (battle) and stick in there and do those things really well was awesome to see,” Campbell said.

Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby had 66 yards on 11-of-19 passing but led the Bearcats with 141 yards rushing on 14 carries with a 41-yard score. Evan Pryor opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run.

“I think, obviously, we did some good things tonight, but we also did some bad things,” Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield. “You can’t make mistakes in the last six minutes against good football teams, so we’ve got to do better.”

The Takeaway

Cincinnati: The Bearcats committed a season-high 13 penalties on Saturday, with 11 of those coming against the offense.

Iowa State: The Cyclones found a way to score on three of their five second-half possessions, which helped end their two-game skid and kept their slim playoff hopes alive.

It’s a Fake!

With 5:19 left in the third quarter, the Cyclones prepared to punt the ball back to the Bearcats but ran a fake with Klotz, who ran it 22 yards to get Iowa State in range for an eventual field goal.

Up Next

Cincinnati: visits No. 16 Kansas State next Saturday.

Iowa State: visits Utah next Saturday.

Iowa St. 34, Cincinnati 17

Score by Quarter

Cincinnati 7 3 0 7 — 17

Iowa St. 7 3 10 14 — 34

First Quarter

CIN–Pryor 12 run (Hawks kick), 9:56.

ISU–Hansen 2 run (Konrardy kick), 1:53.

Second Quarter

CIN–FG Hawks 29, 12:18.

ISU–FG Konrardy 35, :08.

Third Quarter

ISU–Klotz 26 pass from Becht (Konrardy kick), 10:04.

ISU–FG Konrardy 52, 2:53.

Fourth Quarter

CIN–Sorsby 41 run (Hawks kick), 11:44.

ISU–Becht 15 run (Konrardy kick), 4:04.

ISU–Sama 27 run (Konrardy kick), 1:09.

A–52,881.

TEAM STATISTICS

CIN ISU

First downs 15 21

Total Net Yards 353 386

Rushes-yards 39-287 34-152

Passing 66 234

Comp-Att-Int 10-18-0 24-35-0

Punts 6-37.3 4-45.3

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-Yards 13-97 7-40

Time of Possession 28:12 31:48

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Cincinnati, Sorsby 14-141, Kiner 18-120, Pryor 6-31, B.Jackson 1-(minus 5). Iowa St., Sama 12-52, Becht 7-48, Klotz 1-22, Flora 3-16, Hansen 9-11, Moberly 1-5, J.Jackson 1-(minus 2).

PASSING–Cincinnati, Sorsby 10-18-0-66. Iowa St., Becht 24-33-0-234, (Team) 0-1-0-0, Noel 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING–Cincinnati, T.Johnson 3-43, Pryor 3-(minus 1), Royer 2-8, Henderson 1-12, Kiner 1-4. Iowa St., Burkle 6-73, Higgins 6-69, Noel 6-43, Klotz 3-32, Eskildsen 2-17, J.Jackson 1-0.