Outside of some growth in key areas, the Iowa State football team was outmatched on the road against Oklahoma and their usual promising defense has become a glaring liability.
The Cyclones’ third loss of the season came in ugly fashion against the formerly No. 14, now No. 12, ranked Sooners, with a final score of 50-20 and not much going right for Iowa State in the second half.
For Iowa State to pull off the upset Saturday, they needed to start right in order to keep up with Oklahoma’s productive offense. A pick-six thrown by Rocco Becht on the teams’ opening drive had the Cyclones playing catchup early in the first quarter.
Offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase opened up about what a setback like that does when going up against a team like Oklahoma.
“What we did on the first drive made it really hard to compete with a team like that,” Scheelhaase said. “You don’t want to be fighting neck and neck with those guys. You want to put them in a tough position, and we were never able to do that in the game.”
While the Cyclone offense would find success and keep up with the Sooners through the first 20 minutes of action, the rest of the game didn’t fair the same for Iowa State.
The Cyclones allowed 29 unanswered points in part due to their offense going silent through the final 40 minutes of play. In the second half, Iowa State didn’t have a drive go longer than 30 yards and couldn’t work anything off of the Sooner defense.
At one point in the game, the Cyclones put together back-to-back scoring drives to cut it to a one-point deficit in the second quarter. Head coach Matt Campbell talked about failing to execute, especially against a skilled team like Oklahoma, and how they learn from that wasted opportunity.
“As great as some of the things that occurred Saturday [were], there are still reasons we didn’t win the football game,” Campbell said. “You’re playing a great football team and you got a chance to be right where you want to be going into halftime, and we don’t do it. I think the lessons learned, we got to take the positive and the negative and you demand to grow forward.”
An aspect of Iowa State’s offense that did see some growth, which had been unsuccessful for much of the season, was the run game. The running back trio of Eli Sanders, Abu Sama and Cartevious Norton combined for 125 yards on 16 carries.
Scheelhaase was encouraged by the way the Cyclones’ inexperienced running back room ran the ball and believes that finding consistency on the ground is the key to turning things around.
“The offensive line came off the ball and created space for those guys, and I thought the running backs were in synch with those guys,” Scheelhaase said. “It shows you what we can do, but to be consistent in that week in and week out is what we’re aiming and striving for and that’s what we got to be true to.”
Veteran offensive lineman Jarrod Hufford was relieved that he and the rest of the line finally got the production they were looking for in the run game, but for it to come in a loss was not as relieving.
Hufford knows that the offense needs to be better in many forms and described the scene of the journey back to Ames—a scene that he hopes to never see again.
“From an offensive perspective, we’re really gonna step it up again and do what needs to get done,” Hufford said. “On the bus and the plane ride back from Norman, that silence and gut-wrenching feeling, just from a leadership perspective from everybody, everyone hated that feeling. We all don’t want to ever feel that again.”
On the other side of the ball, the Cyclones’ defense continued to decline for the second week in a row. They allowed over 500 total yards to the Sooners’ talented playmakers, the most they’ve allowed this season, and have looked out of synch for the past couple of weeks.
Sixth-year linebacker Gerry Vaughn talked about how the defense can get back to their performances earlier in the season, where they allowed under 300 total yards in each of their first three games.
“I feel like as a defense we talked about last week being better on communication—I would say the line and that assignment, just getting our eyes right against those little things,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn, a captain for the Cyclones’ defense, has dealt with injuries since the season opener against Northern Iowa but has suited up for the last two games. He said along with rehabbing to get back on the field, he’s made sure to help his teammates however he can especially during these last few weeks, whether he’s on the sidelines or between the numbers.
“Staying positive, nobody putting their head down and just going at every drive with a positive attitude,” Vaughn said. “Just being an example for them and always trying to do the right thing. Any questions or concerns they have I’m always there to help.”
Despite the rollercoaster of a season for his team, Campbell believes that each week there has been growth in different areas. He described his team as resilient and courageous, and they haven’t played perfectly, but the growth is what sticks out to him the most.
“The growth that has happened, even in the course of the last three weeks,” Campbell said. “Seeing a team grow as much as I’ve watched this team grow up, it has been impressive.”
