For the 20th time in Dan McCarney’s head coaching tenure at Iowa State, the Cyclones lined up for a home game against a conference opponent.

And for the 16th time, they walked off the field at Jack Trice Stadium with their heads down in defeat, as the Oklahoma Sooners beat ISU 31-10 before 37,073 sun-bathing fans in Ames.

“We lost to the better team, no doubt about it. They just whupped us up front, and it’s tough to win when something like that happens,” McCarney said.

The game began slowly for the Cyclones, as the teams traded punts before Iowa State quarterback Sage Rosenfels fumbled on the Cyclone 21-yard line.

However, the defense stepped up and stopped the high-powered Sooner attack, holding it to five yards and a 33-yard field goal.

“I thought early we came out and were very strong defensively. We just couldn’t come up with a play on the offensive end,” McCarney said.

After ISU failed to move the chains, punter Carl Gomez failed to do his job by registering an 18-yard punt that allowed Oklahoma to take over on the ISU 38.

The Sooners once again took advantage of the good field position by driving the field in four plays, capped by a shovel pass to true freshman running back Quentin Griffin, who took it 10 yards for the touchdown.

After a few fruitless possessions by both teams, ISU got what seemed to be a big break when Reggie Hayward crushed Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel, causing the junior sensation to cough up the ball.

James Reed jumped on it, and the Cyclones had the ball on the Sooner 44. However, as the tone of the day continued, ISU was unable to covert on the drive.

After both teams were stopped, ISU punted the football. Jarrail Jackson, Oklahoma’s punt returner, dropped the ball, and Ryan Sloth recovered at the Sooners 34-yard line.

Once again, the Cyclones failed to convert. After Darren Davis ran for seven on first down, ISU was held to no yards, and another golden opportunity was wasted.

“That was very frustrating. All year when we would get a turnover, the offense would punch it in. Today we couldn’t do nothin’,” Davis said.

Oklahoma magnified the blunder by driving 72 yards in seven plays to make the score 17-0, the scoring play coming on a 27-yard Griffin run up the middle.

The Cyclones got on the board near the end of the first half, as kicker Mike McKngiht split the uprights from 43 yards to make it 17-3 at half.

The stats at the midway point revealed the Cyclones were stopping the Sooners’ passing attack, which had come in averaging 338 yards per game, but they were not dealing well with the running game, which had come in at only 96 yards per contest.

Huepel had passed for only 61 yards in 20 attempts, while Griffin led the Sooner onslaught with 81 of the 105 Oklahoma ground yardage.

The second half started much like the first, with the Cyclones not being able to move the ball.

After being pinned deep in its own territory, ISU was forced to kick, and the Sooners took over on their own 49. Again, they used the short field to their advantage, driving 51 yards in just four plays, as Seth Littrell capped the drive with a three-yard scamper.

“Field position obviously hurt us. When we did get the ball in good shape, we just couldn’t execute,” McCarney said.

The Cyclones started the next series with Derrick Walker at quarterback, but the experiment was short-lived when Walker threw an interception on his second pass attempt.

“We were just looking for a spark at that point with Derrick. He came on and threw the interception early, and we just can’t tolerate turnovers, so we brought Sage back and he did some good things,” McCarney said.

With 12:53 left in the game, the Cyclones took over on their own 34 and mounted what would be their only drive of the game.

It was done completely through the air, with Rosenfels going 4-4, including a pass into the flat to Davis, who scampered 40 yards for the Cyclone touchdown.

However, the Cyclones would not again threaten the goal line, and when Oklahoma scored a late touchdown, the final was 31-10 and the Cyclones’ dream of a winning season fell by the wayside.

Oklahoma finished with 301 yards rushing, its highest total since last season, and 187 yards through the air, its second-lowest total of the year.

A main reason was the defensive scheme of the Cyclones, which employed only three lineman.

“We had to find a way to stop the pass, and that was the thing we came up with. It made us vulnerable to the run, and obviously that hurt us,” McCarney said.

“I feel it was a good enough scheme to still defend the run, we just didn’t make the plays we needed to,” ISU linebacker Ab Turner said.

Playing in his final home game, Davis was held to 53 yards in 17 carries, a performance that disappointed him.

“We just couldn’t get it going today. I didn’t have anywhere to run, no holes anywhere, so it was very tough,” Davis said.

The Cyclones now travel to Kansas for the final game of the year.

“We just have to go out, play with pride, and play for the seniors. We want to leave on a good note like last year,” Cyclone wide receiver Chris Anthony said.