Kempt, Iowa State stun No. 3 Oklahoma
NORMAN, Okla. — This Iowa State team is different.
Kyle Kempt passed for 343 yards and three touchdowns, including a 25-yarder to Allen Lazard that put the Cyclones ahead with 2:19 left, and Joel Lanning made plays on offense and defense to lead Iowa State to a stunning 38-31 victory over No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday.
The loss snapped Oklahoma’s nation-leading 14-game winning streak and the Sooners’ 18-game run against the Cyclones that dated to 1990. It was just Iowa State’s second victory over Oklahoma since 1961, and the Cyclones (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) did it without their starting quarterback.
“There’s been a lot of adversity at Iowa State for a long time and there’s been a cloud around us,” Cyclones coach Matt Campbell said. “I think our kids said, Iowa State players celebrate after Saturday’s win against Oklahoma.
‘I’m sick of it, and we’re going to keep grinding, keep swinging and getting better one day at a time.’ So at the end of it, here we are.”
Kempt, the senior who had thrown just two passes in his career before Saturday, played because regular starter Jacob Park went on leave for undisclosed Sue Ogrocki / The Associated Press
personal medical reasons late this week. The Cyclones remained confident, despite having lost 20 straight against ranked opponents. Iowa State’s last win over a Top 25 team came against TCU in 2012. It was Iowa State’s first road win over a top-five team.
Lanning, who switched from
Iowa State 38, No. 3 Oklahoma 31
quarterback to linebacker in the offseason, played both positions Saturday. According to the Des Moines Register, he’s the first Iowa State player since 1971 to get significant action both ways in a game. He ran for 35 yards, passed for 25 and had eight tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery. He played 78 snaps.
“It was fun,” Lanning said. “Coming into an atmosphere like this, you can’t ask for anything better — especially playing both ways. It was fun. I can’t say enough about my teammates and what they did to help me out. It was a lot of stuff going on for me. I didn’t have my best game defensively, but we got the win.”
Iowa State got it going after a rough start and finished with 449 yards.