Oklahoma football: Sooners survive Cyclone scare
Oklahoma football led 35-14 at halftime but in the end, needed a Parnell Motley interception on a two-point conversion attempt to finally vanquish Iowa State 42-41 in Norman.
The Sooners scored the first 14 points of the game on a 48-yard pass from Jalen Hurts to CeeDee Lamb and an 8-yard Hurts keeper before the Cyclones got on the board with a 40-yard touchdown run from Tarique Milton.
Hurts found Trejan Bridges for a 7-yard score and Lamb shredded the Iowa State defense for a 63-yard score to make it 28-7.
After Iowa State cut the lead to 14 with a Dylan Soehner 23-yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy, Hurts scored on 2-yard plunge to make it 35-14 at halftime.
At that time Many Sooner fans started heading for the exits to beat traffic and perhaps to make travel plans to Waco where College GameDay will be next weekend when the Bears host the Sooners, but the Cyclones were far from done.
Purdy scored on a 4-yard run to cut the lead to 35-21 and Kennedy Brooks answered with a 48-yard touchdown run to extend it back to three scores heading into the fourth quarter.
The Cyclones then scored two touchdowns one on a 3-yard pass from Brock Purdy to Chase Allen, the next on a 33-yard pass from Purdy to Sean Shaw Jr.with 3:35 to go in the game.
On the ensuing possession, the Sooners tried to run the clock out on two runs but gained minimal yardage. Then Jalen Hurts made a critical mistake, throwing an interception on a third and long to give the Cyclones the ball back deep in Sooner territory.
Iowa State then drove on a tired Oklahoma defense and scored a touchdown with less than 30 seconds to go to make it 42-41.
On the road and down by one, Matt Campbell wasted no time electing to go for two, but Motley made the play of the day for the Sooner defense stealing the ball away from n Iowa State receiver to preserve the Sooner win.
Hurts finished 18-of-26 for 273 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He added 68 yards and two scores on the ground. Kennedy Brooks had 15 carries for 132 yards and a score. Lamb caught eight passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns.
Oklahoma football: Sooners Playoff path colossal hill to climb. dark. Next
The Sooners survive with their College Football Playoff hopes still intact. Oklahoma got a little help ahead of them with Minnesota upsetting Penn State and LSU taking out Alabama to knock both teams from their undefeated status.
The Sooners will travel to Waco to take on the undefeated Bears next Saturday.