Oklahoma-Iowa State: Three Keys to the Game

Run the football, finally ... Make special teams special again ... The eyes on Texas

Run the football

Iowa State’s defense doesn’t lend itself to a big passing performance. The Cyclones typically bend but don’t break, keep everything in front and excel at fundamentals like tackling and no coverage busts.

That’s why it’s incumbent on Oklahoma to run the football with authority — really, for the first time this season.

Iowa State will get a lot of defenders around the football, but OU can withstand that by being patient in the ground game, particularly if the offensive line knows what their blocking assignment is and finishes blocks. Sounds basic, but that hasn’t happened with great regularity through the first four games.

Then it’s on the ballcarrier — Jovantae Barnes, Marcus Major, Gavin Sawchuck or Tawee Walker — to finally do something special. Make someone miss. Run over someone. Throw up a devastating stiffarm. Break away on a long run.

Oklahoma’s ground attack hasn’t been special yet this season. Knowing Dillon Gabriel and the passing game may be stressed — and with Texas looming next week — it’s time to fix the running game.

Special Teams

Another area the Sooners have been average or below this season is special teams. After last season showed significant upticks in OU’s special teams performance across the board, this year has been a step back.

Punting has been bad. Returns showed promise, but things got sloppy last week at Cincinnati after losing a fumble at Tulsa. Zach Schmit has yet to make a high-pressure kick from distance, although two field goals at Cincinnati were certainly a good sign — and, to be fair, Schmit hasn’t missed a kick yet this year (4-for-4, with a long of 34).

Coverage has still been good, and that’s where this team can add momentum on Saturday against Iowa State: with a big hit or swarming tackle on kickoff coverage, putting the Cyclones in bad field position and lighting a fire under the crowd.

Last year at Iowa State, special teams helped make the difference as Schmit scored a touchdown that stunned the Cyclones on a fake field goal, and he hit two three-pointers, including a 41-yarder. Meanwhile, Michael Turk bombed a 61-yard punt and averaged 50 yards per kick. And the Cyclones got no momentum from special teams as they gained only 13 total yards on returns.

OU might need that kind of performance again from Jay Nunez’ special teams units this season as Iowa State tries to ugly it up and keep it close.

Eyes on Texas

No doubt, Oklahoma needs to stay focused on beating Iowa State. The Sooners can’t have one eye on the Cyclones and one eye on the Red River Rivalry next week in Dallas. OU doesn’t need to get beat by Texas two weeks in a row.

But there’s another element at play here: Many of the play calls that Jeff Lebby and Brent Venables send in on Saturday in Norman need to do one of two things: hide something from the Longhorns, or show the Longhorns something.

If Lebby throws some formations or pass concepts out there that he has no intention of running in Dallas, then the Texas defense will spend practice time next week chasing ghosts. If Venables can hold a handful of blitz packages or coverage disguises in reserve this week, then maybe Texas will be caught completely off guard at key points in next week’s showdown. Same for Jay Nunez on special teams — draw up something crazy that you have no intention of using next week, or hold something back that Texas has no idea is coming.

Long gone are the days of Darrell Royal accusing Barry Switzer of spying on practice. But that doesn’t mean there’s no place for coaching subterfuge.