Iowa State shows mettle, deals Oklahoma a damaging defeat
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 in the Big 12 on Saturday.
Afterward, the Cyclones planted a flag at midfield in Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium — just like did Mayfield did at Ohio Stadium after the Sooners knocked off the Buckeyes on Sept. 9.
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) did it without their starting quarterback.
“There has been a lot of adversity at Iowa State for a long time, and there has been a cloud around us,” Cyclones coach Matt Campbell said. “I think our kids said, ‘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, a senior who had thrown just two passes in his career before Saturday, played because regular starter Jacob Park went on leave for undisclosed 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 quarterback to linebacker in the offseason, played both positions on Saturday. According to the Des Moines Register, he is the first Iowa State player since Dave McCurry in 1971 to get significant action both ways in a game. He ran for 35 yards, passed for 25 yards and had eight tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery. He played 78 snaps.
“I can’t say enough about my teammates and what they did to help me out,” Lanning said. “It was a lot of stuff going on for me.”
Iowa State got it going after a rough start and finished with 449 yards. The Cyclones, heavy underdogs, didn’t need trick plays or a slew of takeaways to beat the Sooners. They got back into the game with 21 straight points to take the lead after falling behind 24-10.
“We should have been better than that today,” Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. “Some of the old scars kind of repeated themselves today. Our execution as a whole was not good enough. That falls on us as coaches. We haven’t played well the last couple of weeks. We are just not making enough plays, and if you do that in this league, you’re going to come out on the short end of the stick.”
It was the second straight game that the Sooners didn’t dominate as expected. Though Oklahoma’s offense purred as usual, the defense struggled against a team that scored just seven points against Texas with Park. Oklahoma also struggled in a 49-41 win over Baylor two weeks ago. The defense that looked dominant in nonconference play has been leaky during Big 12 action.
It was the first loss for new Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley. Baker Mayfield passed for 306 yards and rushed for 57 for the Sooners (4-1, 1-1), but his Heisman Trophy chances and Oklahoma’s College Football Playoff hopes took major hits.
“I think it’s a sense of complacency,” Mayfield said. “We’ve been talking about it. It’s not like it’s not been apparent. We’ve let teams come back in games and give them hope. When you do that to a team that has their backs against the wall, we know exactly how it’s feels — it’s something that you can’t do.”