This isn't just a K-State thing, this is a universal thing. When a team has nothing to lose, they can get riskier with the playcalling and call plays they wouldn't normally call in that situation. We had nothing to lose because it was almost halftime - didn't have to worry about sustaining a long drive or holding on to the ball for a long time because no matter what we did with the ball, it was going to be halftime in about a minute and a half. The play we normally wouldn't call in that situation - the first play of a drive - was the big pass to Lockett. For the entire first half Iowa State's defense has been trying to stop our ground game, and boom, we hit them with a bomb when they weren't sure whether we would just kill the clock or try to do something and caught them off guard (also good execution by Klein, Lockett and the line).
TLDR: Can't lose situations enable more unconventional feast or famine play calling that can surprise a defense, especially if they've been facing a different type of offense up to that point in the game