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If I were to sum up the game in one sentence, it would be that the defense did its job and the offense did not on Saturday. To be honest, I was a bit surprised the defense did as well as it did. Typically with Iowa State, we see something good happen only to be followed up by something much worse. After beating the #2 team, one might have expected not only a blowout, but some season ending injuries and rumors that Paul Rhoads would be leaving the program.... If your expectation was similar to that, Saturday wasn't such a bad day.
The weather may have been a factor as it was a windy game, but the Cyclones were able to pick off a future NFL draft pick twice, and force 4 turnovers against a pretty solid team.
I was fully expecting a letdown game, and really we only got about 1/2 or 2/3 of a letdown game in this one. There were just too many careless turnovers in this one to have a chance to win. If the defense hadn't played well, this game would have turned out like the Texas game.
The best moment in the game was Jake Knott intercepting Bell in the endzone to hold off OU putting the nail in the coffin to the Cyclones. It was at this moment that I thought might be a turning point in the game, for the Cyclones to make things interesting.
The most disappointing moment in the game was in the 3rd quarter with about 5:00 left. Iowa State was driving, down 23-6 at the time, and came to a 4th and 3 at the Oklahoma 46. I was really hoping that the Cyclones would go for it, but they opted to punt instead. Any of the 4 turnovers are good candidates for disappointing moments, but the reason why this moment took the cake was because Rhoads was throwing in the towel, and it was too bad.
Teams do not get a lot of opportunities to force 4 turnovers in Norman in a relativley dead atmosphere. The Cyclones squandered chances, but it really was not as bad as I had expected. Remember, this is very similar to the team that beat the Cyclones 52-0 last year. This year, the team looked like it belonged on the field, despite not being as good as the Sooners. Hopefully the offense can regroup for Saturday against Kansas State. For those that do not know, I have a strong dislike for Kansas State and would love to see them go down against the Cyclones. I also think the Cyclones will match up well with the Wildcats, making for another fun game.