With Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon unavailable on Thursday night the Sooners went to the next man up at the running back position against Iowa State. That put the team on the back, and the legs, of junior fullback Dimitri Flowers who had never logged a carry for the crimson and cream before the game. His first tote netted eight yards and then 107 more yards would come on the next 21 carries as he led the Sooners to victory.
Baker Mayfield was solid as usual, tossing four touchdowns (including an 11-yard hook up with Flowers) on his way to a 328 yard night. Dede Westbrook accounted for 131 of Mayfield’s passing yards as he continued his assault on Big 12 defenses.
In all, the Sooners produced 34 points, 28 first downs, and 477 yards of offense.
Feast Or Famine For The Defense
The Oklahoma defense held Iowa State’s offense to less than 300 yards but still had to head-scratching moments of frustration. The biggest such moment came in the second quarter when quarterback Joel Lanning ran for a 41-yard touchdown immediately after the Sooners had burned a timeout.
DJ Ward led Oklahoma tacklers with 7 total take downs, but freshman Caleb Kelly was impressive with six tackles a sack and a quarterback hurry. This defense has struggled all season, and will continue to struggle, but you have to think that if they can get healthy following what’s going to be a 9-day layoff in between games then we’ll see some improvement.
The Home Stretch Is Upon Us
Sitting with a perfect 6-0 record in conference, Oklahoma is in the driver’s seat for another conference title. It won’t be easy though as they now face their toughest conference stretch yet to close out the season. The Sooners will play Baylor and Oklahoma State in Norman, on November 12th and December 3rd, with a trip to Morgantown on November 19th.