• The Road Warrior Report - Iowa State Review - November 8, 2015

      NORMAN – Baker Mayfield went 23-31 for 342 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night, as the Sooners dispatched Iowa State 52-16, in a performance that was all the more impressive considering that the Sooner offense took the second quarter off. Mayfield added a 24-yard scoring run, while Samaje Perine racked up 95 yards on only 13 carries and Joe Mixon added 88 yards on only eight carries, including a 55-yard scoring run.


      Nine Sooners caught passes, led by Durron Neal with 10 for 75 yards. Sterling Shepard had four catches for 94 yards, including a 74-yard TD bomb, and Dmitri Flowers had a 75-yard TD catch on a gadget play on the first offensive snap of the game. Mark Andrews also had a nifty 55-yard TD reception from Trevor Knight late in the game.



      The Sooner defense, meanwhile, continued to shut down the opposition. They allowed only three field goals before Iowa State added a TD in garbage time. Since the Texas game, they have allowed an average of 12.5 points per game. Dakota Austin had a nice tipped interception, and almost had another. The Sooners sacked ISU QB Joel Lanning four times, with Charles Tapper tallying two and Charles Walker and Eric Striker notching one each. Striker’s usual quick first step was insanely quick against the Cyclones, and he was pressuring the QB all night.

      Austin Seibert was one for two on field goals on the night. His miss, once again, hit the post. It’s almost like he’s aiming for it at this point.

      But enough about Iowa State. That was only the final preliminary to what has the potential to be a Red October-style run to a conference title. Saturday at Baylor. Two Saturdays from now at home against TCU. Three Saturdays from now to close out the season at little brother’s house. Win these three, and we’re conference champs once again. Win these three, and there’s a decent chance we’re in the Playoff. Win these three, and the angst of 2014, no matter what happens in December/January, is wiped away. But we have to win these three.

      We are not going to assess Playoff chances here. Too many variables still in play. Best case scenario, frankly, after OSU’s beatdown of TCU yesterday, is that little brother continues to win and we hit Stillwater at 10-1 against an 11-0 Aggy team for all the marbles, winner-take-all for the conference and the Playoff. Don’t know if it will happen, but it surely could.

      But we must beat Baylor to even have that conversation. The Bears are ripe for the taking. Their defense isn’t what it was last year, and neither is our offense. They have a freshman QB that needs to be tested by fire. They struggled against the ISU team we just blew out and won by a single TD in Manhattan, Kansas last week.

      And regardless of their blackout gimmick and their new little stadium down by the river, this Sooner team has been tested in the crucible of Neyland Stadium. No matter how loud they are, the mere physics of it say that 45,000 in an open-ended stadium can’t compete with 105,000 in a towering bowl, where this Sooner team has already won.

      This is the ABC primetime game. College GameDay will be there. The eyes of the college football world will be upon us. But none of that matters. The only thing that matters is that there is a debt to be repaid Saturday night. And this is the team to repay it. We have been waiting years for a Sooner game this big in November. We can’t wait. See you in Waco.
      Comments 1 Comment
      1. GDC's Avatar
        GDC -
        Good job as always Phil. Yes, OU needs to beat Baylor and restore the universe to its proper order.
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