Key to the Iowa State Game for Oklahoma State: Build Off Last Week’s Performance

For the third week in a row, Oklahoma State faces a defense which primarily plays a three-man front. Below you see how Kansas lines up a majority of the time.

Which is very similar to how the Cyclones will lineup this weekend in Stillwater.

In addition, similar to the Jayhawks, Iowa State likes to drop eight men in to coverage and rush the opposing quarterback with their three defensive lineman. They will give up the short throws underneath, and take away the long ball with their deep safeties.

“We gotta adjust to that,” Tylan Wallace told NewsOK earlier this week. “Obviously, we like to throw the deep ball, but if they take it away, then we gotta take what they give us. We’ll have to run stuff underneath that to be effective.”

Their goal in the run game is also similar to KU’s goal. They want to clog the middle with their three tight lineman sets, and force the ball outside to attacking defenders in the second and third level.

OSU did a great job of running the ball against the Jayhawks, and this will be their third week in a row facing a three-man look, so I think they should be able to build off their game plan from last week and figure out a way to run it again.

It starts with Justice Hill but adding in other elements, like the designed quarterback run, will also be effective in gaining yards against this talented Cyclone defense.

We’ve seen OU have success with this in the past against ISU as well.

Oklahoma State will need to be patient this Saturday, take what the defense gives them and settle into some long, 10-plus play drives. When teams get impatient against the Cyclones, that’s when they fall right into ISU’s trap.

In addition, even though Iowa State tries to clog the middle with their “Tite” front, the Pokes will still need to be able to establish a running game inside. They were able to do it against KU, opening up some massive holes, and we will need to see it again this weekend.

Establishing the running game early will open up RPOs and play action passes later on in the game, which I think the Cowboys will hit on for at least a few big plays.

The Cyclones do a great job of stopping the run with their three-man front, but they haven’t been able to record many sacks this season. They are currently tied for 97th in the nation in sacks per game.

I think Cornelius will have time to throw the ball, and even though ISU has a lot of talent in their secondary, I believe Corndog will be able to find the open windows in this defense. Especially if the Pokes are able to get the run game going early.