The first half ended with a little bit of a break, but No. 21 Oklahoma State (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) came out locked in for the second half to pull away from Iowa State (1-4, 0-3 Big 12) Saturday afternoon in Stillwater. Oklahoma State pulled away from Iowa State for a 37-20 victory.
Oklahoma State benefitted form a bizarre end to the first half that saw the special teams come up with a free ball inside the Iowa State 20-yard line and a video review overturn a goal-line play from no score to a touchdown. Oklahoma State running back Desmond Roland looked to be stopped short of the end zone, which was the ruling on the field on the final play of the half, but a video review overturned the ruling. As a result, Oklahoma State managed to go to the half with a 13-6 lead in a poorly played first half.
The second half was quite the opposite. Oklahoma State started the second half with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Tyreek Hill. The Cowboys later added 10 more points in the third quarter after Iowa State got in the end zone. Up 30-13 heading to the fourth quarter, Oklahoma State put the game away with a Roland touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma State improved to 4-1 on the year, with the lone loss coming on a neutral field against Florida State. The Cowboys are now 2-0 in Big 12 play with a road game at Kansas coming up next week. Oklahoma State may have been in a need to consider a change at quarterback, but Daxx Garman played better in the second half for the Cowboys. He ended his afternoon with 271 pass yards and one touchdown, but he was picked off twice by Iowa State.
Iowa State will step out of Big 12 play next week with a home game against Toledo. Iowa State’s next Big 12 game will come the following week, at Texas. We can probably still count on Iowa State for one upset in Big 12 play. Could it come against the Longhorns, or will the Cyclones have some drama to show off at home against Oklahoma on November 1?