West Virginia loses a Big 12 shootout at Iowa State

Aidan Flora accounted for five touchdowns at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, and Iowa State needed every one of them. Read more: West Virginia loses a Big 12 shootout at Iwoa State

The Cyclones beat West Virginia 45-42 in a track meet the Mountaineers nearly stole. West Virginia drops to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12, its second straight conference loss. Iowa State improved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12. The Cyclones came in ranked near the bottom of the conference in total offense.

West Virginia scored first when Michael Hawkins Jr. found Cyrus Traugh for a 31-yard touchdown. Iowa State tied it at 7 on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jaylen Raynor to Omar Haynes after a blown coverage.

Iowa State led 21-14 at halftime behind two more Flora touchdown passes off halfback trick plays. West Virginia answered throughout the second half and took a 42-38 lead with 5:04 left on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Hawkins to DJ Epps.

Flora's five touchdowns

Flora ran 22 times for 212 yards and three touchdowns, a career day on the ground alone. He also threw two touchdown passes on trick plays, 46 yards to Cody Jackson and two yards to Vince Benetti. West Virginia had not allowed a player that mix of rushing and passing touchdowns since 1929.

His longest run, a 63-yard score in the fourth quarter, put the Cyclones back in front at 38-35.

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Raynor finished 19 of 27 passing for 264 yards and a touchdown, with Jackson catching six passes for 160 yards on top of his touchdown from Flora.

Hawkins answered blow for blow, throwing for 227 yards and two touchdowns and running for 149 more and two scores, 376 yards of offense by himself.

Cam Cook added 142 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and Epps's 114 receiving yards included the go-ahead score. The two offenses combined for 1,095 yards, the fourth-most in a major-college game this season.

The fumble that sealed it

Flora's fifth touchdown, a two-yard run with 1:57 to play, put Iowa State ahead for good. West Virginia got the ball right back, needing one more answer.

Instead, Epps caught a third-down pass for a first down and fumbled trying for more yards, with under a minute to play. Iowa State recovered to end it.

Asked about the shootout afterward, Rodriguez pointed to his own defense's missed chances.

"You've got to stop somebody to win the game. We had a couple opportunities to do that and didn't get it done," he said.

It was the second straight week West Virginia's defense had been overrun. Oklahoma State piled up 609 yards in a 41-24 win in the Big 12 opener seven days earlier, the most a West Virginia defense had allowed since it gave up 616.

West Virginia hosts Arizona at Milan Puskar Stadium next Saturday. Rodriguez and his defense have one week to find somebody to stop.