Sooner defense must be superb against Texas after strong second half in home win over Iowa State
One week before when Oklahoma went up to Cincinnati and beat the Bearcats 20-6 in their Big 12 opener, the defense ruled the day as it yielded only two field goals, got two interceptions and recorded two quarterback sacks, while the offense acknowledged it needed to improve.
NORMAN — One week before when Oklahoma went up to Cincinnati and beat the Bearcats 20-6 in their Big 12 opener, the defense ruled the day as it yielded only two field goals, got two interceptions and recorded two quarterback sacks, while the offense acknowledged it needed to improve.
The key for OU in Saturday night’s game before 84,371 at home against Iowa State would be how quarterback Dillon Gabriel would fare against the Cyclones’ defense. Gabriel and the Sooner offense delivered as he ran for two touchdowns and threw three TD passes and 366 yards on 26-of-39 attempts in a 50-20 rout of the Cyclones, allowing OU (5-0 overall, 2-0 in Big 12 play) to remain unbeaten, move up from 14th to 12th in The Associated Press Poll and set the Sooners up against Texas in their annual Red River Showdown next Saturday in Dallas.
It is also the first time since 2011 that both teams are unbeaten in the big game.
However, don’t be fooled by the final score. It was closer than the final 30-point margin.
OU has historically beaten Iowa State by large margins but has been in close battles since Matt Campbell has been the Cyclones’ coach, especially in Norman. There was the stunning upset loss of 2017, the onepoint win after a three-TD lead in 2019 and a seven-point win in what would be the final win of the Lincoln Riley regime two years ago.
What seemed to stand out more was the OU defense against the Iowa State offense. It wasn’t supposed to give up many points, but it was vulnerable to the Cyclones’ passing attack early and gave up more points than predicted.
Through nearly the first 21 minutes of the game, each time OU scored, Iowa State had an answer.
When the Sooners missed a field goal attempt, the pesky Cyclones had a chance to take the lead. However, the defense did hold the Cyclones to a field goal and a one-point lead at 2120 with 9:06 left in the second quarter.
Yes, the defense did have two interceptions. Billy Bowman picked off a pass on the first drive of the game and took it 44 yards for a TD to give OU a 7-0 lead.
Gentry Williams picked one off in Cyclone territory to set up an OU touchdown that extended the lead to 40-20 before halftime.
After Bowman’s pick-six, Iowa State answered immediately on the ensuing drive when quarterback Rocco Becht found Jaylin Noel for a 51-yard TD to tie the game.
OU responded with Gabriel’s 1-yard scoring run to make it 147, then the Cyclones drove back down for a 35-yard field goal from Chase Contreraz to cut the deficit to 14-10.
With 26 seconds left in the opening quarter, Gabriel hit Nic Anderson, who darted straight to the end zone after the catch for a 39-yard TD, and it was 2110 as the first quarter ended.
OU would give up another big pass play, as Jayden Higgins caught a pass from Becht, then sprung free for a 67-yard touchdown and drew Iowa State within four points again at the start of the second quarter.
The Cyclones came within 21-20 on their next possession, following the missed OU field goal, when Contrarez made his second field goal, this one from 48 yards.
Gabriel got his second rushing TD from six yards out, and it was an eight-point game at 28-20.
The Sooner D finally came to life as it held the Cyclones to a three-and-out and blocked the punt that went out of the zone, earning a team safety to make it a 30-20 game.
OU would receive a kickoff, but would only get a 46-yard field goal from Zach Schmit. Nevertheless, it was just the beginning of the takeover the Sooners needed.
Williams’ interception set up a 2-yard TD from Gabriel to Drake Stoops to make it a 20-point difference at halftime at 40-20.
The defense cannot make mistakes against Texas as it did early against Iowa State. The third-ranked Longhorns have shown they can score fast and often with the weapons they have in Quinn Ewers, Xavier Worthy and Jonathon Brooks. The third-ranked Longhorns defeated then-No. 24 Kansas 40-14 on Saturday afternoon in Austin.
OU was thrashed by its hated rival 49-0 last year when it was without Gabriel, after he had been injured the previous week. Texas is on top of its game and has a 34-24 win over then No. 3 Alabama back in Week 2 under its belt.
