Three Thoughts on Iowa State’s 34-27 Win Over Oklahoma State
There is plenty of excitement going into Week Four of the college football season. Here in Big 12 country, conference play has arrived. While there are plenty of great matchups, one of the games that wasn’t really talked about much was the Oklahoma State/Iowa State game.
Both teams are coming off rough losses and are in need of a big bounce back win. While many people (including myself) thought that this game had the potential to be one of the worst games of the day, it ended up being a good old fashioned Big 12 shootout. Here are my three thoughts on Iowa State’s 34-27 win over Oklahoma State.
Iowa State’s Offense Came Alive
It’s no secret that Iowa State had one of the worst offenses in college football coming into Saturday. They scored just seven points against Ohio last week and looked all out of sorts. But against Oklahoma State, those offensive woes went away quickly. While the ground game still needs some work (2.2 yard per carry), Iowa State used their passing attack to move the football.
Quarterback Rocco Becht finished the day with 348 yards and three touchdown passes which were both career highs. Jaylin Noel was the star receiver of the day and Daniel Jackson had a nice game as well. Iowa State used the short passing game instead of trying to run the football a lot and it worked well. After a performance like this, you have to give some credit to the offensive staff and offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase for calling a great game.
Is Alan Bowman the Guy for Oklahoma State?
All week long we heard about Mike Gundy’s plan to use all three quarterbacks (Alan Bowman, Garret Rangel, and Gunnar Gundy) against Iowa State. However, earlier on Saturday it was announced that Alan Bowman would be the starter and that he would be their guy. It was certainly an interesting game from him to say the least. Bowman went 23/48 with two scores and two interceptions. He made a few nice throws, but overall, he wasn’t very accurate with the football. I know Oklahoma State has a few playmakers on offense, but I am still not sure if Alan Bowman gives them the best chance to win games.
The Game Nobody Expected
As excited as I am to cover college football, I will be completely honest with you, I wasn’t looking forward to this game. Both of these teams were coming off of terrible losses to Ohio (Iowa State) and South Alabama (Oklahoma State). The offensive statistics were about as bleak as I have ever seen for each team. In fact, the over/under in this game was set at 36 which tells you everything you need to know.
Thankfully, those previous offensive performances were left somewhere else because I didn’t see that in Ames, Iowa on Saturday. Both teams moved the football, and they ended up hitting the over by halftime. It was a great game until the very end, and I am actually glad that I got to cover it. Big 12 football is back baby!
