No. 24 Oklahoma State has no trouble scoring in bunches, but its defense will need to prove it can perform on the road as the Cowboys prepare to play three of their next four games away from home, all in Big 12 Conference play.
First, the Cowboys (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) will look to build on a 33-point home win over Colorado when they visit Iowa State (3-4, 1-3) on Saturday night in Ames, Iowa.
Quarterback Drew Mestemaker leads an offense that tops the conference at 40 points per game. However, the defense couldn’t make enough stops in Oklahoma State’s lone conference loss, a 35-32 defeat at then-No. 20 Houston on Oct. 17.
Coach Eric Morris was pleased with the unit’s improvement against the Buffaloes last Saturday. The defense shut out Colorado in the second half as the offense erased a one-point halftime deficit and pulled away for a 57-24 victory.
The defense made an immediate impact in the third quarter when safety Quinton Hammonds recovered a fumble on the opening play.
“I think us gaining the momentum off that turnover on the first play really set our sideline on fire and allowed us to capture some momentum there; we didn’t let it back after that,” Morris said.
“It’s amazing what confidence will do to you in this game,” he added.
Oklahoma State will look to carry that confidence into the first of two consecutive road games.
Iowa State has the Big 12’s third-lowest scoring offense at 25.9 points per game, but running back Aiden Flora has Morris’ attention.
“They pitch it to him, he throws it, he runs it, he’s the punt returner,” Morris said. “He just has so many roles on this team.”
Flora leads the Cyclones with 716 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He also is 2-for-2 for 48 yards and two touchdowns on trick-play passes.
When it comes to conventional quarterback play, Iowa State coach Jimmy Rogers insists there is no controversy heading into Saturday’s game. Jaylen Raynor will start despite being benched during the team’s 39-3 loss to then-No. 25 Arizona last week.
“Right now, we’re going to roll with Raynor,” Rogers said. “… He’s the best leader on this team as far as having the pulse of the team.
“And where we sit right now, he’s the guy that I kind of feel like can lead us in the right direction.”
Raynor was 8-for-10 for 106 yards against the Wildcats but was pulled in favor of Connor Moberly after fumbling on an attempted lateral late in the first half.
Rogers is challenging his team to embrace the difficulty as the Cyclones prepare to face a third consecutive Top 25 opponent.
“This is gonna be a tough challenge, there’s no doubt about that. But as I told the team, what else would you want?” he said.
“This is what we all came here to do. The conference is excelling at a high rate. How exciting is that, then, to be in the Big 12 and to prove that you can be one of them?” he added.