The Cyclone defense knew what it was up against heading into Saturday’s contest.

Quarterback Josh Heupel leads the Oklahoma offense into battle each week as one of the top passers on one of the top passing offenses in the nation.

In one short season, the junior has rewritten the Sooner record books, setting a dozen single-game and single-season records and methodically climbing through the career record ranks.

His receiving corps is none too shabby, either. Featuring three of the top 10 receivers in the Big 12 in Brandon Daniels, Jarrail Jackson and Antwone Savage, the Sooners are the third-rated passing offense in college football.

So it should come as no surprise that the Iowa State defense would focus on this potent aspect of the Oklahoma attack.

What may come as a surprise is that, despite a 21-point loss, the Cyclones won this particular battle.

“The starting corners we have out there haven’t been starting for long,” coach Dan McCarney said, “and they’re playing against some of the best receivers in the Big 12. I was very proud of the way they performed today.”

For just the second time this year, Heupel was held under 325 passing yards, finishing the day with just 180.

The talented junior had plenty of time to pass, and he dropped back 42 times on the afternoon. However, the Cyclone secondary allowed just 24 completions and an average of just over four yards per attempt.

All of this despite debilitating injuries that have plagued the unit all year.

With early-season starters Breon Ansley and Jamarcus Powers lost to injury, ISU featured backups Ryan Sloth and Atif Austin at the corner positions, and both played their best football to date.

The duo combined for seven tackles, but more importantly, they broke up three passes and never gave up the long ball.

“I think the secondary played very well today,” Sloth said. “We didn’t stop the run like we needed to as a team, but our coverage was effective and I think we did the things we needed to do against the pass. Most of their passing yardage came off of the shovel.”

Seasoned veterans Dustin Avey and Jeff Waters continued to perform admirably in their safety positions, registering 13 and 11 tackles, respectively, the top two totals on the team.

After being embarrassed by the Texas Longhorn passing game, the ISU defensive backs stepped up and played well against Oklahoma. Unfortunately, their focus on the Sooner aerial attack came back to haunt them in other ways.

The impressive performance was largely due to several superb individual performances, but was reinforced by defensive schemes that featured extra backs and linebackers in pass coverage.

Having already suffered against the run this season, the Cyclone defensive front – often playing without linebacker support – was not enough to tame the mediocre Sooner running game.

In the end, Oklahoma backs Quenton Griffin and Reggie Skinner each surpassed the 100-yard mark and averaged well over 10 yards per carry.

“Our first goal every week is to stop the run,” Austin said. “We just weren’t able to do that today. Our coverage seemed good and we didn’t give up any big plays, but we didn’t stop the run.”

The Cyclones picked their poison on Saturday, shutting down the Sooner passing game and betting against the run. Unfortunately, despite a great day in the backfield, the Oklahoma run was lethal enough to cost them in the end.