Film Study: Cyclones’ Quarterbacks Both Effective on the Ground

When Oklahoma State takes on Iowa State this Saturday, the Cowboys will be facing one of the conference’s more underrated dual-threat quarterbacks. Junior quarterback Joel Lanning has done a respectable job under first-year head coach Matt Campbell, and despite the Cyclones going 1-4 thus far, they have shown bright spots on offense. Lanning has already thrown for over 860 yards and seven touchdowns this season and has also scored three times on the ground.

Lanning’s legs give the Cyclones an extra dimension on offense, and offensive coordinator Tom Manning uses them frequently. Lanning is often used in the run game, either as the primary ballcarrier with gap schemes like power or counter:

Or with the read option game:

Lanning has also shown the ability to accurately throw the ball downfield.

Backup quarterback Jacob Park has also received playing time in a package role this season, despite not playing against Baylor last week. Park does many of the same things that Lanning does. Park is relatively fast for a quarterback and is able to excel on quarterback run calls.

But he has also shown his competence as a passer and has three touchdowns on the season:

Coach Campbell told the media on Tuesday that Lanning will start but Park will most likely get playing time against the Cowboys this Saturday despite not playing against Baylor last week.

“We believe in both those guys,” Campbell told the Des Moines Register.  “And I still think you’re going to see plenty of Jacob Park. I think Joel and Jacob both know that, and I think that’s a credit to Joel [against Baylor]. Joel played at a really high rate and was playing really good football almost the entire day.”

“It kind of goes to show, like last Saturday, whoever’s in the game and has momentum going and is playing good, they’re just going to keep them in and let them go,” Lanning added.

The Lanning-Park rotation has worked fairly well for the Cyclones this season. Whether Park will play extensively against the Cowboys is unknown, but both quarterbacks have proven their ability this season and the Cowboys should take notice.

Will the Cyclones’ offense be able to score against the Cowboys? Leave your opinions below in the comments!