By Michael Kinney
It could have been a trap game. With the Red River Shootout on the horizon, Oklahoma easily could have taken its focus off Iowa State and fallen flat on their faces.
For a little over a quarter Saturday evening, it looked like that may been the case. But after settling down, the Sooners went on to roll to a 50-20 victory at Memorial Stadium to set up a matchup of undefeated teams when they face Texas next week.
“Offensively, I thought that they were fantastic from the jump. We put a lot of pressure on Iowa State,” OU coach Brent Venables said. “(Defensively) we left a lot to be desired on several drives. I thought they made some really good plays, they executed, but we had some things break down fundamentally. But I’m really pleased with how we responded defensively. They didn’t score for the last 39-plus minutes.”
Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel continued his ascent up the Sooner’s passing charts with another impressive outing. The redshirt senior completed 26 of 39 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns. He added another two TDs on the ground to complete his impressive night.
In the process, Gabriel moved passed Spencer Rattler and Kyler Murray into eighth on the Sooners’ all-time career passing yards.
“Dillon’s confidence just grows each week. It seemed he almost had a bit of a swagger to him tonight. He’s playing good in lots of ways. He’s leading with toughness,” Venables said. “He’s in a much different place as a leader and his confidence is here. The way he is continuing to develop, work, lead, and play, I’m really proud of him.”
Yet, it was the Oklahoma defense that got on the scoreboard first when Billy Bowman picked off ISU’s Rocco Becht and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown. Dillon Gabriel added a 1-yard TD run in which he ran over a defender on his way to the endzone.
However, Iowa State’s offense kept pace and only trailed 14-10 with 30 seconds left in the first quarter. But Gabriel and Nic Anderson hooked up for a 39-yard touchdown pass to give the Sooners a 21-10 advantage.
“That’s been huge, I was waiting for him to pop all last year,” sophomore Jayden Gibson said of Anderson. “He’s really like that. So I’m proud of him. He overcame a lot and he’s in his own head as well. T
The Cyclones answered back on the first play of the second quarter when Becht and Jayden Higgins connected on a 67-yard catch and score.
After another Gabriel touchdown run, the Sooners seemed to regain control of the momentum. Then freshman Peyton Bowen blocked a punt that rolled into the endzone. All the Sooners needed to do was jump on the loose ball for the touchdown.
However, Trace Ford tried to pick it up and it rolled out of the back of the endzone for the safety. Oklahoma led 30-20.
Gentry Williams came up with an interception with just under two minutes left in the half. That set up a Drake Stoop’s touchdown catch with just seven seconds on the clock. OU took a 40-20 advantage into halftime.
Oklahoma came out of halftime with the intent of putting the Cyclones away. They proceeded to go on a 8-play, 85-yard drive. It was punctuated with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Gabriel to Gibson.
That was all the Sooners needed to put the contest away.
OU posted 535 total yard. That includes 166 yards on the ground. Marcus Major led the way with 69 yards on 19 carries.
Despite their slow start, Oklahoma (5-0) limited the Cyclones to 354 total yards. Becht completed just 15 of 32 passes for 188 yards and was picked off twice.
“It’s honestly just preparation throughout the week,” Bowman said. “We take that very seriously in practice, breaking up passes or catching the ball and bursting 10 yards with it to create those habits. We just want to create good habits and it’ll travel over to the game.”
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