Iowa State took on the No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, Oklahoma, looking to pull off a potential upset. However, the Cyclones were unable to pull off the upset, as they fell by a score of 50-20.

Iowa State fell to 2-3 on the season in a game that got away quicker than expected. The Sooners took advantage of the Cyclones’ mistakes and Iowa State could not answer back.

Becht showed promise and room for improvement 

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht had an underwhelming performance against the Sooners in a game that quickly got out of hand. Becht earned himself the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Week Award following the win over Oklahoma State but did not live up to those standards on Saturday.

Becht had some big throws in the game that resulted in Iowa State scores. He threw a 51-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jaylin Noel to give Iowa State its first touchdown of the game. The second big play from Becht was a throw to wide receiver Jayden Higgins for a 67-yard catch-and-run touchdown to shrink Oklahoma’s lead early on.

He finished his day completing 15 of his 33 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. He did also threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown that added to Oklahoma’s early lead.

Cyclone run game bounces back against the Sooners 

Iowa State may have had its big scoring plays through the air, but the run game set up big plays for this offense all night long. All three running backs got a mix of the workload in the Cyclone offense, which helped them put up points early in the game.

Running back Abu Sama III had some big runs early in the game, with his longest run being 39 yards. He finished the day with seven carries for 67 yards as he had himself a bounce-back game after only having 10 yards against Oklahoma State.

Running backs Eli Sanders and Cartevious Norton also had some solid carries that resulted in some big gains for Iowa State. Sanders finished his day with seven carries for 41 yards, while Norton had one long carry for 20 yards. 

The run game for Iowa State was effective versus a tough Oklahoma defense. After weeks of struggle, it was a good sign for the Cyclones to get the ball moving on the ground.

Cyclone defensive line creates little pressure on Oklahoma

Iowa State’s defensive line seemed to create little pressure on Sooner quarterback Dillon Gabriel and the Oklahoma offense as a whole on Saturday. The Cyclones gave Gabriel all day in the pocket at times to find his options.

There was only one sack made by the Iowa State defense the entire game made by linebacker Zachary Lovett. The sack was Lovett’s first-ever collegiate sack.

The Cyclones have had trouble sacking opposing quarterbacks in recent weeks, as they have gotten three total sacks since the game against Northern Iowa where they had five sacks.

The Cyclones will now look to right the ship as they head back home to host TCU at 7 p.m. Oct. 7. The game against TCU will also be the Jack Trice legacy game, in which Iowa State will represent Jack Trice with new uniforms.