Oklahoma football: Sooner rebound begins at home with Iowa State
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma football is looking to avenge not one, but two losses when the Sooners host Iowa State on Saturday night at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
It’s been two weeks since the 7-1 Sooners were last in action, and those have been a difficult two weeks coming on the heels of a tough loss at Kansas State that knocked OU from the unbeaten ranks and in all likelihood from a third consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff.
Oklahoma, ranked No. 9 in the first of the 2019 College Playoff rankings revealed this week, is looking to get back on the winning track against Iowa State, the last team to beat the Sooners at home. The Cyclones (5-3, 3-2) came into Norman brimming with confidence on their last trip, in 2017, and left with a 38-31 upset win.
The Sooners are 16-1 in home games with Lincoln Riley as head coach. That one loss was to Iowa State, something the OU coaching staff and players have not forgotten.
Before the Iowa State win on its last visit to Norman, the Cyclones had beaten Oklahoma only two times since 1961, both times in Norman (1961 and 1990). The Sooners .916 winning percentage against Iowa State is the best in college football history by one FBS team over another (with a minimum of 50 games in the series).
Iow State’s three losses this season have been by a combined 10 points (18-17 to Iowa, 23-21 to Baylor and 34-27 last weekend to Oklahoma State).
The Cyclones have been a good road team. They have won seven Big 12 road games in the last three years, including at Oklahoma, and are 2-1 in conference road contests this season.
Despite its success on the last road trip to OU, Iowa State faces a tall order in trying to make it two in a row. Oklahoma is 117-10 at home since 1999 and is 16-1 at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium under Riley. In fact, the Sooners have more Big 12 championships (12) than home losses since the beginning of the Bob Stoops coaching era in 1999.
The Sooners’ No. 9 position in the first College Football Playoff ranking of the season is the same as where they stand in the latest Associated Press Poll. OU has been ranked in the AP top 10 in 48 of the last 49 polls.