Carson Hansen’s 3-yard touchdown run with 1:31 left Saturday night lifted No. 22 Iowa State to a 31-28 win over Utah in Salt Lake City, forcing a four-way tie for the Big 12 Conference lead with one week left in the regular season.
Hansen’s score capped a 75-yard drive for the Cyclones (9-2, 6-2). His halfback pass to Gabe Burkle on third and 1 on the previous play went for 26 yard to set up his winning score.
The Utes (4-7, 1-7) had a chance to force overtime but Cole Becker, who earlier made field goals of 34 and 47 yards, missed wide right on a 54-yard attempt with nine seconds left. Utah reached the 33-yard line earlier in the drive but backup quarterback Luke Bottari was flagged for intentional grounding, backing it up just far enough to affect the field-goal try.
Rocco Becht completed 20 of 38 passes for 256 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Iowa State, which hosts Kansas State next week. The Cyclones are tied with Arizona State, BYU and Colorado atop the conference.
Bottari hit 5 of 9 passes for 55 yards for Utah in relief of starter Isaac Wilson, who was 8 of 8 for 74 yards before suffering a leg injury in the third quarter.
Looking to stay bowl-eligible after being picked to win the conference in preseason polls, Utah initiated scoring at the 9:52 mark of the first quarter as Becker finished its opening drive with the 34-yard field goal.
Iowa State took its first lead on its next drive, a six-minute possession that Becht capped with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Higgins. The Cyclones were on their way to another score early in the second quarter before Lander Barton picked off Becht and lugged it 87 yards for six points for the Utes.
Iowa State regained the advantage with 8:05 left in the quarter on Hansen’s 8-yard touchdown run. The teams exchanged field goals in the final 3:38, Kyle Konrardy answering Becker’s 47-yarder with a 35-yarder with 29 seconds remaining for a 17-13 Cyclones edge at the break.
Becht stretched the lead to 24-13 with a 1-yard scoring run for the only points in the third quarter.
A blocked punt that was recovered for a touchdown by Jackson Bennee and a 1-yard scoring run by Micah Bernard gave Utah the first 15 points of the fourth quarter — the latter score giving the Utes a 28-24 lead before Hansen’s winner on the ensuing possession.
