The Oklahoma State Cowboys came into week six of the season looking to win their second straight game. After a big win against the Texas Longhorns, OSU came into the game as a 17 point favorite. However, Iowa State came off a heartbreaking 45-42 loss against Baylor. With the Cowboys looking to move to 4-2 on the season, this would be a much needed win against the Cyclones. Let’s take a look at what we learned from Oklahoma State’s win over Iowa State.
What We Learned From Oklahoma State’s Win Over Iowa State
Game Recap
The Cowboys looked to continue the momentum from their win over Texas into this game. The first quarter was low scoring at 7-3. However, the fortunes of Iowa State were looking good at the end of the third quarter, as they had a 31-21 lead. They even led 31-14 at one point. Yet, the Cowboys were able to score 24 straight points to get a 38-31 lead. The game would end on an incomplete pass from quarterback Joel Lanning to running back Mike Warren.
Oklahoma State’s defense tightened up in the fourth quarter, but did not have a great game overall. They gave up 448 total yards, compared to Iowa State giving up 459 yards. The Cyclones out-gained the Cowboys on the ground with 165 yards compared to 108. Another thing that played a big part in the game was turnovers. Iowa State had three turnovers, where Oklahoma State had none. Two of the turnovers for Iowa State came by way of quarterback Jacob Park throwing interceptions. The Cyclones ended up using a two quarterback system between Lanning and Park. They combined for 283 yards and three touchdowns. Lanning had another 67 yards on the ground. Both of the Cylcones key receivers had a big day yesterday. Allen Lazard and Trevor Ryen combined for more than 100 yards and three touchdowns receiving.
Iowa State Should Have Handed the Ball to Mike Warren More
Warren had a good game when he was actually given the ball. He had nine carries for 50 yards. Averaging 5.6 yards per carry is impressive, and it seems like Iowa State abandoned Warren pretty early. Instead, they used Lanning to run the ball 18 times. It looked like Lanning would be able to carry the load until the Cowboys defense tightened up in the fourth quarter. Warren still led all Cyclone running backs in rushing yards yesterday (Lanning was the only player with more rushing yards). Considering he rushed for over 230 yards and three touchdowns in two games previous, it’s weird that the Cyclones did not utilize him more.
Mason Rudolph is Very Good but Very Inconsistent
Since being held without a single passing touchdown against Baylor, quarterback Mason Rudolph has put up impressive stats. He put up 351 yards and four touchdowns yesterday. He is on track for 26 passing touchdowns and only four interceptions this season. Rudolph has eight total touchdowns in the last two games. However, he completed less than 60 percent of his passes yesterday. And Rudolph did not play very well previous to the fourth quarter. He was helped by wide receiver James Washington who had over 150 yards and two touchdowns receiving. Jalen McCleskey also had a good day, with 74 yards receiving and one touchdown. If Oklahoma State wants to be in the race for the Big 12 title this season, Rudolph is going to have to be more consistent on a game-to-game basis.
The Defense Has Trouble Against Duel Threat Quarterbacks
The Cowboys have struggled multiple times this season against dual threat quarterbacks. Central Michigan quarterback Cooper Rush was able to give the Cowboys their first loss of the season. Furthermore, they did not fair well against duel threat quarterbacks at the end of last season either. Baylor quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham (released from Baylor, looking to transfer) and Chris Johnson (now at Houston) and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield all gave the Oklahoma State defense fits. Lanning gave the defense a lot of trouble in the second and third quarters. He even had a 40 yard run at one point. This could bring about a lot of trouble for the rest of the season against quarterbacks like Mayfield and TCU’s Kenny Hill.
Next up for Oklahoma State is the Kansas Jayhawks on October 22nd in Lawrence. The Cowboys will be hoping to move to 5-2 on the season against Kansas.
