Iowa State went three and out to start the game, Oklahoma scored two plays after taking possession, and the Sooners never looked back en route to a 59-14 bludgeoning that Michael Myers would have been proud of.
To say things didn't go well for the Cyclones would possibly be the understatement of the season. Early play calling showed that the Cyclones knew of the Sooners' weak secondary and they attacked accordingly. Poor passes and even worse catching kept the Cyclones from mounting a successful drive until after they had already dug themselves a 21-0 hole. The touchdown was so surprising, and the deficit so big, that most of Jack Trice Stadium gave the cursory cheer and moved on to dreaming about the days of Bret Meyer and Jason Scales giving Oklahoma a game.
Look, I'm not going to waste my breath going through a true recap of the game and where things could have turned. The fact is Oklahoma was the better team on the field today in talent, preparedness, emotion, and execution. There's no excuse for Iowa State's lack of focus early and no excuse for why a defense that knew they would be run on were so poor at gap control that some of us wished for Wayne Bolt to ride in and lessen the bloodletting.
I'll stick to the superlatives you can find elsewhere: Richardson: 15/40, 239 yards, one touchdown passing, one touchdown rushing, 40 sailed balls, and 20 dropped balls. DeVondrick Nealy and Aaron Wimberly: 11 attempts, 21 yards. E.J. Bibbs: two catches, 39 yards. Iowa State defense: 510 yards and five touchdowns surrendered on the ground.
In reality this photo sums up the game, the season, and potentially Paul Rhoads' tenure in Ames: