The Oklahoma Sooners (4-3, 2-5 ATS, 3-4 O/U) collide with the Iowa State Cyclones (3-4, 3-3-1 ATS, 2-5 O/U) in a Big 12 battle on Saturday evening. The Sooners recorded a wild home win against Kansas two weeks ago and had their bye last week. The Cyclones remained winless in conference play after a narrow road loss to Texas in their previous action. Oklahoma posted a 28-21 home win against Iowa State last season.
The Oklahoma Sooners have finally earned their first conference win of the season. Oklahoma dropped the first three Big 12 bouts of the season including a blowout loss at TCU and an ugly 49-0 loss against Texas earlier this month. They rebounded from that defeat with a 52-42 home win against Kansas in their previous action before last week’s bye. The Sooners have covered the spread in only two games all season, occurring against UTEP and Nebraska.
Dillon Gabriel is posting big numbers which continued in the win against Kansas. The junior QB has eclipsed 300 yards in two out of his last three games and has collected 1618 passing yards accompanied by a stellar 13:1 TD to INT ratio on the season.
Eric Gray is a big threat on the ground. The senior RB has reached 100 yards on four occasions this season and has accumulated 695 rushing yards on an average of 7 yards pe r rush. Marvin Mims brought in 106 receiving yards in the latest victory and now has 542 receiving yards. The Oklahoma offense is solid and isn’t to blame for their troubles in conference play.
All out effort @TheGavinFreeman ??
?? ESPN2 | #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/NDEgJWwIBz
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) October 15, 2022
The Sooners' defense needs a lot of improvement, to say the least. They have not been able to contain any SEC opponents so far. The unit squandered 55 to Texas and 42 points on 430 total yards against the Jayhawks. The pass defense is at 86th while the rush defense is especially an issue, pegging 122nd overall. Oklahoma is averaging 33.9 points, good for 37th. They are allowing an average of 31 points, placing them 103rd in the country.