Austin, Texas ? Texas heard all week about its 84th-ranked offense and struggling running game.

The Longhorns responded by saying the ground game would come.

Did it ever.

Just when No. 7 Texas needed it the most, the Longhorns gained 245 yards rushing Saturday in a 21-10 win over No. 17 Iowa State.

Cedric Benson ran for 199 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries including a 59-yarder that put Texas ahead in the third quarter as the ‘Horns revived a punishing ground game that all but disappeared.

“We were tired of playing like weren’t a top team,” said Benson, who had 45 carries for 113 yards in the previous two games while playing with a nagging turf toe injury.

“It started to make some guys sick.”

Texas (7-1, 3-1 Big 12) sealed its 17th straight win at home on Selvin Young’s 2-yard TD in the fourth. The play capped an 80-yard drive in which the Longhorns converted a fourth-and-1 at the Iowa State 21 and chewed up more than nine minutes.

“It’s been a long time since we had a 19-play drive that changed the momentum of the game for us,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.

Perhaps most importantly, the Longhorns ground game kept Iowa State quarterback Seneca Wallace off the field.

Texas’ Royal-Memorial Stadium was soggy after a week of rain and under a steady drizzle Saturday. The Longhorns worried that would favor the shifty Wallace.

Texas running back Selvin Young (3) scores a touchdown against Iowa State. The seventh-ranked Longhorns gained 245 yards rushing in their 21-10 victory over No. 17 Iowa State on Saturday in Austin, Texas.

“I’ve always felt a wet field was to the advantage of the offense,” Brown said. “We thought it was a Seneca Wallace day. We needed to get our running game back on track to keep the ball out of his hands.”

Iowa State (6-3, 3-2) has lost two straight since cracking the top 10 for the first time.

Held to just 43 yards passing in a loss to Oklahoma, Wallace was much better against Texas with 226 yards and a touchdown.

But he didn’t make the big plays the Cyclones needed as Texas’ second-ranked defense held Iowa State to 286 total yards. He was 18 of 31 passing with an interception and rushed for 15 yards.

A Heisman Trophy favorite two weeks ago, Wallace might have surged back to the front of the race with a win or a big game.

“We’re the only team in the country to play back-to-back games on the road against top 10 teams,” Iowa State coach Dan McCarney said. “It’s been a long two weeks. We’re sick of losing.”

Wallace couldn’t do anything to counter Benson’s performance. Benson ran for 61 yards and a 2-yard TD in Texas’ opening drive for a 7-0 lead.

The Longhorns would come back to him after the Cyclones grabbed the lead.

On the 59-yard run, Benson swept left, cut back between a pair of defenders and raced to the end zone before stretching out over a tackler at the 2 to give Texas a 14-10 lead.

Turnovers hurt Texas in the first half. Benson fumbled and Iowa State’s JaMaine Billups intercepted a tipped pass.

The Cyclones led 10-7 at halftime on Wallace’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Lance Young and Adam Benike’s 40-yard field goal.

The Cyclones dominated the second quarter but missed a chance for a TD when they couldn’t punch it in on first-and-goal from the 2. Benike kicked a 24-yard field goal that was wiped out by a penalty, and he missed the retry from 29.

“That was a huge momentum swing,” McCarney said. “That was as big a series as you could have and to come away with no points really hurt us.”

No. 20 Kansas St. 44, Baylor 10

Waco, Texas Darren Sproles ran for 124 yards and a touchdown to lead Kansas State.

Sproles is the first Kansas State running back in 29 years with four straight 100-yard games. The only Kansas State runner with more than four straight 100-yard games is Isaac Jackson, who had six straight in 1973.

Randy Jordan returned a blocked field goal 93 yards for a touchdown, and Sproles ran for a 12-yard score for Kansas State (6-2, 2-2 Big 12).

Baylor (3-5, 1-3) lost its third straight game but scored for the first time in that stretch. The Bears were outscored 75-0 in their last two games after scoring 11 points in the final two minutes Oct. 5 to beat Kansas 35-32 and end their 29-game Big 12 losing streak.

No. 21 Colorado 37, Texas Tech 13

Boulder, Colo. Chris Brown ran for 149 yards and a touchdown, Robert Hodge passed for two scores and safety Medford Moorer returned an interception 51 yards for another to lead Colorado.

Overcoming key penalties, Colorado (6-2, 4-0 Big 12) posted its fifth straight victory and held one of the nation’s most potent offenses to 359 total yards 125 yards below the Red Raiders’ season average.

Texas Tech (5-4, 2-2) crossed midfield only once in the second half.

Red Raiders quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, the nation’s leader in completions, attempts, yards passing and touchdown passes, was 36-for-65 for 268 yards and no TDs.

Nebraska 38, Texas A&M 31

College Station, Texas Freshman David Horne scored three of his four touchdowns in the second half as Nebraska finally won on the road.

The Cornhuskers (6-3, 2-2 Big 12) rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit to snap a five-game road losing streak, their longest since 1958.

They were on the verge of making it six in a row when Byron Jones returned a fumble by Jammal Lord 66 yards for a touchdown and a 31-14 Texas A&M lead midway through the third quarter.

Then the Aggies (5-3, 2-2) gave up 24 straight points on Horne’s touchdown runs of 21, 11 and 6 yards, and a 42-yard field goal by Josh Brown. Horne’s go-ahead 6-yarder came with 11:01 to play.