Oklahoma Football: Sooners Show Adaptability in Outlasting Cyclones

Dimitri Flowers Proves His Versatility, Toughness

Coming into Thursday night’s game, the Sooner offense was missing two of its most valuable players: Samaje Perine, who is still nursing an injured hamstring, and Joe Mixon, who foolishly earned himself a suspension by berating a hapless parking attendant.

That left Lincoln Riley’s offense down to one scholarship running back, freshman Abdul Adams, and walk-on Devin Montgomery. There was little doubt that fullback Dimitri Flowers would also see increased action.

Once again, Dimitri Flowers proved his versatility, not to mention his toughness and determination, by rising to the challenge and shouldering the bulk of the workload. The junior fullback carried the rock 22 times for 115 yards and caught three passes for 34 yards and a touchdown.

Flowers’ running wasn’t dazzling, but it was a workmanlike performance that resulted in methodical Sooner drives that kept the ball away from the Cyclones’ offense.

During the second half, the Oklahoma offense had the ball for nearly 22 minutes, while the Iowa State offense had the ball for just a little over eight minutes. If Lincoln Riley’s plan was slowing things down enough for Oklahoma to maintain control of the game, it was executed perfectly.

Moving forward, the Oklahoma running game definitely needs to return to full strength for the season’s final stretch run. That means a healthy Perine and a well-behaved Mixon. Oklahoma will need all its star power to make it through the upcoming three game gauntlet unscathed.