This game was as ugly as expected - possibly even worse. Here are some thoughts about the game:
- First, I gotta give it to the Oklahoma State coaching staff. I thought we'd cover the spread, mainly because I thought Oklahoma State wouldn't show up in the first half. I was wrong, and they were ready to play one of the worst teams in the conference.
- I'd also be pleased if I was an Oklahoma State fan. As a fan, you want to see your team dominate someone you view as inferior, and they did that.
- As talked about in the pregame post, Dez Bryant was a force to be reckoned with. We had no answer to him as he caught 9 passes for 170 yards and 4 TDs, including an 80 yard TD reception.
- It's clear ISU's secondary is prone to the big play. We hadn't seen too much of it all year, but in the past two weeks we've seen plenty of it. A 80 yard pass to Bryant for a TD and a 95 yard pass to Jeremy Broadway occured. This is unacceptable from a defensive standpoint.
- ISU couldn't stop the run either: Hunter, Robinson, and Totson, all ran for 8, 11, and 9.6 yards a carry respectivley. As a team, they ran for 263 yards at 7.3 yards a carry - too many yards if you're hoping to make it a game.
- The largest bright spot for ISU was LJ's kick returning. He returned 9 for 319 yards including a 73 yard return. Congrats to him and the kick return team
- Other than that, ISU did pretty much what they'd been averaging. They had 240 passing yards, and 122 rushing yards.
Overall, Oklahoma State executed what it did best and we had no answer for it. Iowa State did what they had been doing all season, which frankley hasn't been good enough.
We all figured that for ISU to keep it close, Oklahoma State would have to be flat, or ISU would have to be extraordinary.
The good news it that Colorado is slipping, and it will be a good chance for us to get our first conference win AND our first road win.
I hope that the team can group from this beating, and that they can play hard next week against the Buffs. There still are some fans watching, and ending the season with a couple of wins would go a long way.