Joe Duvall: (@Joe_DuVall)
In 2013, I was producing a softball game between eventual national champion Oklahoma and Baylor. Dot Richardson was one of the announcers and before the game she was showing me her gold medals (http://i.imgur.com/7cS2z7f.jpg) from the 2000 USA Softball team that she brought for the telecast. This led to her speaking about how athleticism runs in her family and told me a story about one of her nephew’s that plays football to which I asked the condescending question of,
“Oh, is the little guy any good?”
Thinking this was a small child participating in the ritual of herding cats on an eternally windy football field every week, never did I imagine that she would respond,
“Yeah, he plays for Iowa State!”
I shrunk to the size of a post-it note as she was referring, of course, to Iowa State QB Sam Richardson.
Iowa State’s defense deserved a medal after its strong performance defending the Longhorns ground attack, pitching the school’s first shutout since they did it against Kansas in 2013. Paul Rhoads having a squad that is sound in their gap integrity and finishing tackles is something we’ve come to expect from his time in Ames. However, he’ll have a different animal altogether this week against an extremely athletic Oklahoma offense that has topped 50+ points in three consecutive weeks and is firing on all cylinders.
Even two seasons ago in this match-up, when the Sooners had constant turnover (and turnovers) at quarterback, struggled to move the football downfield, and trailed late in the first half, Iowa State still couldn’t contain Oklahoma’s offense for a full four quarters as they lost 48-10.
I like Oklahoma to ultimately win on the scoreboard and win comfortably. But a game within the game to watch will be to see how the Sooners rush defense holds up against Michael Warren, who, as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, was Bob Stoops’ next option at running back had Joe Mixon not committed. Warren has been great for the Cyclones averaging 119.2 yards per game ranking him 2nd in the Big 12 in rushing.
When Oklahoma lost to Texas, one of the contributing factors was an inability to stop the bleeding in the run game that forced them to lose control of the clock and ultimately control of the game. Despite what happens with the final score, pay attention to see if Warren exposes any possible flaws that Treyvon Boykin, Aaron Green, Shock Linwood, and Jarrett Stidham may be able to expose. Though, if Mike Stoops’ front can hold up, then it’s a good sign this unit has improved on their vulnerabilities from earlier in the season and that this team is playing its best football coming down the stretch.
Oklahoma 51
Iowa State 23
Eddie Radosevich: (@Eddie_Rado)
For the first time in (just over) two years Oklahoma will kickoff a conference homegame under the lights of Owen Field. Think about that. It's been a long time coming, enjoy.
The Sooners season- so far- can be broken down into two parts. Before Texas. And after Texas. The last three weeks - which fall in the latter- have been an organic cleansing of sorts, much to the delight of the Sooner faithful.
Offensively it appears the Sooners have found something. Tempo continues to be the Sooners mojo, while Baker Mayfield seemingly picks up where he left off each week. Sterling Shepard delivered his best performance of the year last weekend in Lawrence, and the Sooners running back duo of Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon are running stronger each week.
On the other side of the ball Oklahoma welcomes outside linebacker Devante Bond and Jordan Evans back to the rotation, which is important for Mike Stoops defense heading into the final three games of the season.
Anyone that given the OKPreps scene close attention should be more than familiar with Iowa State redshirt freshman running back Michael Warren. What a season for the former Lawton High School star, good for him.
One final tune-up before the stretch run begins. This one perhaps gaining more attention after the Cyclones stunned Texas in Ames a week ago.
If you're Oklahoma you want to leave Saturday night with a comfortable win, while suffering no setbacks along the way. You want to get good work from your starters and hopefully hand it off to the back-ups at some point in the fourth quarter -- or earlier. Oklahoma has done this in consecutive weeks jumping on teams early.
There should be no reason this doesn't happen again. Iowa State caught a lot of people's attention last week, but don't look for that to carry over into Norman. You have to like the way Oklahoma has responded since losing to Texas. Look for that to continue this week, as a showdown in Waco looms.
Oklahoma 64
Iowa State 17
Josh McCuistion:
I always seem to notice it during my fascination with soccer but it's something that is true in all sports - certain teams just have the number of others, and certain teams seem to never find a way to do a thing against other opponents.
The problem for Iowa State against Oklahoma? They seem to fall into the latter. When Iowa State was ranked No. 9 in the country and seemed to be rolling in 2002 they came to Norman with thoughts of an upset of No. 2 Oklahoma.
The Sooners rolled to a 49-3 win.
Need more evidence?
First, Oklahoma has a 71-5-2 career record against Iowa State.
But the most staggering stat, want to know the Sooners head coach the last two times Oklahoma lost to the Cyclone (Oklahoma has a 71-5-2 record against Iowa State)?
Gary Gibbs (1990) and Bud Wilkinson (1961). That's right this weekend Iowa State is celebrating their silver anniversary since their last win over Oklahoma and their second most recent victory was over 50 years ago.
All this said, you can dissect this all you want, this isn't a bad Iowa State team, relatively speaking, but Oklahoma is clicking on all cylinders right now and though I might normally consider the possibility of Oklahoma overlooking a team this group seems to have woken up since the Texas loss and I would expect them to realize that one more win and then 'getting up' shouldn't be anything of a challenge for the remainder of the season.
What will be interesting? Has Oklahoma better learned to handle a quality running game with the zone read? In that way it's a good test for Oklahoma as they head into the big meeting with Baylor next week - a program that people always seem to overlook their ability running the ball.
I think in the end they find a little success running the ball, particularly early on, and end up slowing down Oklahoma's run of 50-point games.
Oklahoma 49
Iowa State 13
In 2013, I was producing a softball game between eventual national champion Oklahoma and Baylor. Dot Richardson was one of the announcers and before the game she was showing me her gold medals (http://i.imgur.com/7cS2z7f.jpg) from the 2000 USA Softball team that she brought for the telecast. This led to her speaking about how athleticism runs in her family and told me a story about one of her nephew’s that plays football to which I asked the condescending question of,
“Oh, is the little guy any good?”
Thinking this was a small child participating in the ritual of herding cats on an eternally windy football field every week, never did I imagine that she would respond,
“Yeah, he plays for Iowa State!”
I shrunk to the size of a post-it note as she was referring, of course, to Iowa State QB Sam Richardson.
Iowa State’s defense deserved a medal after its strong performance defending the Longhorns ground attack, pitching the school’s first shutout since they did it against Kansas in 2013. Paul Rhoads having a squad that is sound in their gap integrity and finishing tackles is something we’ve come to expect from his time in Ames. However, he’ll have a different animal altogether this week against an extremely athletic Oklahoma offense that has topped 50+ points in three consecutive weeks and is firing on all cylinders.
Even two seasons ago in this match-up, when the Sooners had constant turnover (and turnovers) at quarterback, struggled to move the football downfield, and trailed late in the first half, Iowa State still couldn’t contain Oklahoma’s offense for a full four quarters as they lost 48-10.
I like Oklahoma to ultimately win on the scoreboard and win comfortably. But a game within the game to watch will be to see how the Sooners rush defense holds up against Michael Warren, who, as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, was Bob Stoops’ next option at running back had Joe Mixon not committed. Warren has been great for the Cyclones averaging 119.2 yards per game ranking him 2nd in the Big 12 in rushing.
When Oklahoma lost to Texas, one of the contributing factors was an inability to stop the bleeding in the run game that forced them to lose control of the clock and ultimately control of the game. Despite what happens with the final score, pay attention to see if Warren exposes any possible flaws that Treyvon Boykin, Aaron Green, Shock Linwood, and Jarrett Stidham may be able to expose. Though, if Mike Stoops’ front can hold up, then it’s a good sign this unit has improved on their vulnerabilities from earlier in the season and that this team is playing its best football coming down the stretch.
Oklahoma 51
Iowa State 23
Eddie Radosevich: (@Eddie_Rado)
For the first time in (just over) two years Oklahoma will kickoff a conference homegame under the lights of Owen Field. Think about that. It's been a long time coming, enjoy.
The Sooners season- so far- can be broken down into two parts. Before Texas. And after Texas. The last three weeks - which fall in the latter- have been an organic cleansing of sorts, much to the delight of the Sooner faithful.
Offensively it appears the Sooners have found something. Tempo continues to be the Sooners mojo, while Baker Mayfield seemingly picks up where he left off each week. Sterling Shepard delivered his best performance of the year last weekend in Lawrence, and the Sooners running back duo of Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon are running stronger each week.
On the other side of the ball Oklahoma welcomes outside linebacker Devante Bond and Jordan Evans back to the rotation, which is important for Mike Stoops defense heading into the final three games of the season.
Anyone that given the OKPreps scene close attention should be more than familiar with Iowa State redshirt freshman running back Michael Warren. What a season for the former Lawton High School star, good for him.
One final tune-up before the stretch run begins. This one perhaps gaining more attention after the Cyclones stunned Texas in Ames a week ago.
If you're Oklahoma you want to leave Saturday night with a comfortable win, while suffering no setbacks along the way. You want to get good work from your starters and hopefully hand it off to the back-ups at some point in the fourth quarter -- or earlier. Oklahoma has done this in consecutive weeks jumping on teams early.
There should be no reason this doesn't happen again. Iowa State caught a lot of people's attention last week, but don't look for that to carry over into Norman. You have to like the way Oklahoma has responded since losing to Texas. Look for that to continue this week, as a showdown in Waco looms.
Oklahoma 64
Iowa State 17
Josh McCuistion:
I always seem to notice it during my fascination with soccer but it's something that is true in all sports - certain teams just have the number of others, and certain teams seem to never find a way to do a thing against other opponents.
The problem for Iowa State against Oklahoma? They seem to fall into the latter. When Iowa State was ranked No. 9 in the country and seemed to be rolling in 2002 they came to Norman with thoughts of an upset of No. 2 Oklahoma.
The Sooners rolled to a 49-3 win.
Need more evidence?
First, Oklahoma has a 71-5-2 career record against Iowa State.
But the most staggering stat, want to know the Sooners head coach the last two times Oklahoma lost to the Cyclone (Oklahoma has a 71-5-2 record against Iowa State)?
Gary Gibbs (1990) and Bud Wilkinson (1961). That's right this weekend Iowa State is celebrating their silver anniversary since their last win over Oklahoma and their second most recent victory was over 50 years ago.
All this said, you can dissect this all you want, this isn't a bad Iowa State team, relatively speaking, but Oklahoma is clicking on all cylinders right now and though I might normally consider the possibility of Oklahoma overlooking a team this group seems to have woken up since the Texas loss and I would expect them to realize that one more win and then 'getting up' shouldn't be anything of a challenge for the remainder of the season.
What will be interesting? Has Oklahoma better learned to handle a quality running game with the zone read? In that way it's a good test for Oklahoma as they head into the big meeting with Baylor next week - a program that people always seem to overlook their ability running the ball.
I think in the end they find a little success running the ball, particularly early on, and end up slowing down Oklahoma's run of 50-point games.
Oklahoma 49
Iowa State 13
