Ames, Iowa ? Never in 114 years of football has an Iowa State team done this.

With a 45-17 victory Saturday over Kansas State, the Cyclones have scored at least 37 points in three straight conference games. That’s a first – and it has happened after Iowa State started 0-3 in Big 12 Conference play, with two of those losses in overtime.

The winning streak has Iowa State (6-3 overall, 3-3 Big 12) bowl-eligible for the second straight year and fifth time in six seasons.

So, what has gotten into these Cyclones, anyway?

“I think it’s just the frustration we had in the three games before this, knowing that we were so close,” said quarterback Bret Meyer, who threw three touchdown passes. “We just decided to do away with all the what-ifs and just start producing.”

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder watches the fourth quarter of his team's 45-17 loss to Iowa State on Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

Stevie Hicks added 149 yards rushing and a touchdown for Iowa State, and the defense came up big with two interceptions and a fumble recovery, turnovers the offense converted into 17 points. That unit also held the bumbling Wildcats (4-5, 1-5) to 12 yards rushing in 29 attempts.

The Wildcats lost their fourth straight and added to their misery with the kind of turnovers, penalties and mental mistakes that have plagued them all year. Two turnovers midway through the third quarter enabled Iowa State to score touchdowns 63 seconds apart and blow it open.

Kansas State now has to win its final two games to avoid its second straight losing season, something that hasn’t happened since 1989 and 1990, Bill Snyder’s first two years as coach. The Wildcats play Saturday at Nebraska and finish at home against Missouri.

“There’s a lot of pressure,” K-State running back Brett Alstatt said. “We understand that we gotta win two games to go to a bowl, and this team definitely deserves to go to a bowl. That’s a ton of pressure. We’ll come back and work hard.”

Besides the turnovers, the Wildcats had a field-goal attempt blocked and had to take a timeout on an Iowa State punt because they didn’t have enough players on the field.

“I’ve been saying we can’t get ourselves penalized, we can’t turn the ball over, we’ve got to be better on third down,” Snyder said. “It’s the same litany of concerns that have repeated themselves week in and week out so obviously, the message is not getting where it needs to be.”