Indeed, at that point, the Sooners had only three offensive points and an electrifying Jalen Saunders cross-country punt return and a 10-10 tie with the lowly Cyclones. And, even at that, starting QB Blake Bell was entirely ineffective before leaving the game after taking a knock to the head in the second quarter before the Sooners had registered a point.
It seemed that Saunders’ punt return flipped some kind of a switch, though, as the Sooners came out in the second half and simply started going cross-country on the Cyclones. Literally. Trevor Knight’s generally competent passing and quick start on the read option resulted in huge holes in the Iowa State defense. At the same time, the Sooner defense, after a shaky first quarter and the return of Charles Tapper from a first-half suspension, held ISU in check the rest of the way.
After Damien Williams went 69 yards right up the gut for a score less than a minute into the second half, it was like an old-school Switzer track meet. Brennan Clay had a 63-yard scoring run, again right up the gut, and Knight added a 56-yard TD jaunt of his own. When it was all said and done, the Sooners had scored 45 unanswered points, and it was the rout that anyone should have expected.
Kansas State is next up, and frankly, while they are not the rolling train wreck they were early in the season, their latest outing, a dogfight with a beaten-down TCU team in Manhattan, does not cause us to believe that the trip to the Little Apple is some sort of lost cause. Far from it.
It will be interesting to see who trots out at QB when the Sooners take the field in possibly snowy Manhattan next Saturday morning. Based on recent events, we can’t help thinking that Knight will get the nod, regardless of whether Bell is able to play or not.
It’s kind of interesting how the roles have reversed for those two. Knight won the job in camp, but was shaky early and got hurt, and Bell took over and impressed against Tulsa. Now, Bell has been more than shaky, he gets hurt, and Knight comes in and impresses against Iowa State. Very comparable, especially considering that Tulsa is the only team that Iowa State has beaten this year.
We’ve said it before, but aside from there being no conference or national titles in these kinds of seasons, these are usually the most fun, because you don’t necessarily know what you’re going to get from week to week. That’s not to say we’re advocates of inconsistency (for if we were, this would certainly have been a dream season), but when you know you’re going to go out and drop 60 points every week, it’s a little different.
This team needs to get an identity on offense and a QB who plays to that identity, whoever that is. The defense has the potential to be nasty next season, and they aren’t bad now. Injuries at key spots have really been the story this year on that side of the ball. But make no mistake – while this team isn’t at the level that we all want it to be, it’s on the way there, and the future is bright.
We are not going to get carried away with this win. The Sooners did what a good team (and, regardless of fan histrionics, this is a good team) with a modicum of competence should do to what, by any measure, is a bad Iowa State team. It is what it is, and it isn’t anything more than that. This is a team that can end the season 10-2, as much as many people would never admit that. It could also end the season 8-4. Let's see what happens.
See you in Manhattan.
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