The Reaction:
Remember after the Northern Iowa game, when there were all those concerns about the offensive line?
6.0 yards per rush, on 35 attempts. No sacks. Completions to nine different receivers.
The offense was humming, and the line deserves a lot of the credit.
The Big Picture:
It was a big win for Iowa State, their first in Manhattan since 2004 and a key one in keeping the Cyclones’ Big 12 title game appearance hopes from bottoming out already. The season’s still on thin ice in that regard, but Iowa State’s firmly in the pack of the four teams hoping to challenge Oklahoma at season’s end, at least for one more week.
Relevant Results:
Oklahoma took care of TCU, though it struggled defensively. Oklahoma State roared past Texas in the second half. Baylor handled BYU.
The long and short of all of this is that you have Oklahoma at 4-0 in the Big 12, Oklahoma State at 3-0, Baylor at 3-1, Iowa State at 2-1, and Texas at 2-2. Baylor’s loss came to Oklahoma State. Texas’s losses came to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Iowa State’s came to Baylor.
Next Week:
Oklahoma State comes to Ames. If Iowa State can win it, they won’t exactly be in the driver’s seat for that second spot in the championship game, but they’ll have created a three-way tie for second place in which each of the three teams will have gone 1-1 against the others. There are some oddities with what would happen if the tie held (if I’m reading them correctly, Iowa State would not want to win by more than 17), but it’d be unlikely to hold. Instead, this would be more of a reset on the conference slate, with the Cyclones perhaps still needing some help but more likely controlling their destiny.
