The Iowa State offense picked a bad time for a letdown Saturday, as Oklahoma manhandled ISU 31-10 at Jack Trice Stadium to close out the Cyclones’ bowl hopes and end their home season on a very sour note.

Entering the game, the Cyclones knew they would have to put up some big numbers offensively to keep up with the Sooners’ wide open aerial attack that was averaging nearly 40 points per contest.

However, the Oklahoma defense, led by linebackers Rocky Calmus and Torrence Marshall, limited the Cyclones to a season-low 244 yards of total offense, including an anemic 57 yards on the ground.

“Oklahoma’s defense played real good,” ISU head coach Dan McCarney said. “Our offense got whipped up front.”

Calmus attributed the Sooners’ success to being able to shut down Darren Davis.

Davis entered the game as the nation’s fifth leading rusher, averaging 140 yards a game, but he was held to a season-low 53 yards on 17 carries.

“We felt their main threat was Davis, [and] we focused on that all week,” Calmus said. “We held him under 100 yards and did a really good job [of] not giving up the big play.”

Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops praised his defense for sticking to its game plan and containing the Cyclone All-American candidate.

“That’s hard to do. He’s as good as there is in the country,” Stoops said. “It was a good disciplined effort on our defense’s part to stay gap-sound and to tackle well most of the day.”

The Sooners also managed to prevent ISU quarterback Sage Rosenfels from breaking loose like he did two weeks earlier against Texas when Davis was struggling for yardage.

Rosenfels blitzed the Longhorns for a career-high 291 yards passing during ISU’s 44-41 defeat on Oct. 30.

Against Oklahoma, however, Rosenfels was only able to complete 15 of 34 passes for 187 yards, most of which came after the outcome was decided.

ISU senior offensive lineman Bill Marsau said Oklahoma did an excellent job of putting pressure on Rosenfels throughout the game.

“They were bringing the safeties and putting a lot of guys in the box,” he said. “We weren’t able to move the ball, and they did a good job of blitzing.”

ISU’s offensive woes proved most costly during two crucial first half possessions.

Trailing 10-0 to start the second quarter, the Iowa State defense recovered a fumble by Sooner quarterback Josh Heupel on the quarter’s opening play at the Oklahoma 44-yard line.

However, instead of marching toward the endzone, ISU went backwards and wound up with a fourth-and-14 situation at the Sooner 47.

The Cyclones received another golden opportunity three minutes later when Jarrail Jackson fumbled a Carl Gomez punt inside the Oklahoma 40 yard line.

Ryan Sloth recovered it for ISU at the Oklahoma 34, and after Davis spurted up the middle for seven yards on the next play, the Cyclones were in good shape facing second and three from the Oklahoma 27.

But the ISU offense couldn’t catch a break.

Davis was stuffed for no gain on the next play and Rosenfels then fired two consecutive incomplete passes.

The Sooners retook possession at their own 28 and scored a short while later on a Quenton Griffin 27-yard touchdown scamper to take a commanding 17-0 lead.

“All year, our offense got the ball off of turnovers and scored,” Davis said. “We couldn’t do it, and it was very disappointing.”

The ISU defense did all they could to keep the Cyclones within striking distance, limiting Heupel to 180 yards passing, his worst outing of the season.

But with the offense sputtering, the Sooner offensive line began to wear down the three-man ISU front, and Oklahoma put the game away behind a season best 301-yard rushing performance.

“Our defense went out there and played outstanding today. We didn’t give them any help at all,” Davis said, summing up the game. “We just couldn’t put it together today.”