Sooner or Later...?

Kirk Haaland is a special contributor to WRNL and has his own website full of useful and useless Cyclone information, www.encyclonepedia.com. You can also follow him on twitter @khaal53.

Oh, the ebb and flow of college sports...you can see it within games, seasons, and the history of games between schools.  Take for instance the Cyclones and the Sooners.  The two schools have been playing regularly in one capacity or another since 1928 and you can break down the results into three distinct time periods.

ISU's record in games from these three eras:

• 1928-1959 - 2-29-1
• 1960-1961 - 2-0
• 1962-Present - 1-39-1

There is not one other opponent that has so thoroughly and consistently emasculated the Cyclones entirely as the Oklahoma Sooners

Before I delve into the depression of the numbers that I am about to present to you, I think it is important that I preface all of this with a simple statement...the past does not predict the future, it illustrates how unlikely accomplishments can be and puts them into context.  Ter'ran Benton and Leonard Johnson weren't playing for the Cyclones in the 70's, Paul Rhoads wasn't even born in the 50's, and the differences go on and on.

However, the Sooners have been the one team that ISU has had next to zero success against when playing; as evident by any number of facts.

But, here we go, in the history of the series:

• Iowa State is 5-68-2
  • 2-33-1 at home and 3-35-1 in Norman
• The largest margin of victory for the Cyclones is 13 points in the initial game of the series in 1928 in a 13-0 win
• Of those 68 losses, 13 of them have been by 40 points or more
• In the 75 games played the Cyclones have held the Sooners to less than 100 yards rushing just one time with 51 yards in 1938.
  • In that time Iowa State has only rushed for more than 100 yards 35 times
• On just eight occasions the Cyclones have rushed for more yards than the Sooners
• Just six times the Cyclones have outgained the Sooners in total yards
• There have only been four occasions that ISU has scored more than 21 points
• There have been 24 occasions out of 75 games that Iowa State has held Oklahoma to fewer than 21 points (Iowa State is 4-20 in those games)
• In the history of the series ISU has scored 648 points throughout the 75 games while Oklahoma has scored 658 points in just the past 18 games alone.

That is over the entire course of the series, but here are some more numbers since that two game winning streak from 1960-61:

• In the past 41 games Iowa State is 1-39-1
  • Iowa State is 0-20 at home
• The Cyclones have topped the 4 yards per carry mark on only six occasions while Oklahoma has been held under the 4 yard per carry mark ten times
• The average result on the scoreboard has been Oklahoma 34-Iowa State 11
  • In the past 41 games there have been 22 occasions that the Sooners won by 21+ points
  • In the past 41 games OU has outscored ISU 1,384-436, a difference of 948 points
  • The Cyclones have scored more than three touchdowns just three times while OU has scored fewer than three touchdowns just nine times
• Oklahoma has thrown 25 interceptions while Iowa State has thrown 62
• In the past 41 games ISU has 9,826 total yards while the Sooners have 12,063 yards...rushing
• In 41 games the Sooners have outgained the Cyclones 17,479 yards to 9,826 yards for a difference of 7,653 yards, otherwise known as 4.35 miles
• The Sooners have been ranked in 31 of the previous 41 games and in those 31 games as a ranked team the average ranking has been 8.29
  • In that time ISU has been ranked four times, #9 in 2002 in a 49-3 loss, #20 in 1981 in a 7-7 tie, #16 in 1977 in a 35-16 loss, and #14 in 1972 in a 20-6 loss
• Four times the Sooners have scored more points than ISU has been able to gain in rushing yards...ditto for passing yards
• On two occasions the Sooners have earned more first downs than ISU has gained in rushing yards (2002 & 1987)

It's depressing, really.  This year as much as any other would seem unlikely just eight days after beating a top 6 team for the first time in school history, but if we have learned one thing in the past three years its that you never doubt Paul Rhoads.  Sooner or later the Sooner dominance will again be given a reprieve.