One Stat That Weighs Heavily In OSU’s Favor Against Iowa State

Oklahoma State has had nailbiting victories for the past three years against Iowa State, but this year could provide a much more decisive result. Although the Cyclones still have one of the conference’s best defenses, their offense isn’t nearly as dangerous as it was in 2017. Iowa State doesn’t have the same big-play ability as it did last year, and the statistics reflect that.

Iowa State is seventh to last in the country in scoring offense. Not only is the team without former star receiver Allen Lazard but its starting quarterback, Kyle Kempt, injured his knee against Iowa and hasn’t played since. Additionally, the Cyclones’ starting running back David Montgomery has been banged up for the majority of the season and the starting offensive line has changed due to both injury and inexperience.

The Cyclones are last in the conference and No. 106 in the country in yards per play. They only accumulated 198 total yards against TCU and averaged less than three yards per pass against the Horned Frogs. Zeb Noland has been playing in Kempt’s absence and the passing game hasn’t been the same since.

The Cowboys are fourth in the conference in opponent’s yards per play with 4.8, and with Kempt still out, the defense should have no problem holding the Cyclones’ offense in check. Then again, they’ve been carved up by backup and third-strings before (see Kansas State’s Kody Cook, Baylor Chis Johnson, Oklahoma’s Blake Bell, etc.). Barring anything out of the ordinary, though, there’s no reason why OSU can’t shut down Iowa State and cruise to a convincing win.