Iowa State’s running game woes deepen in home loss to Oklahoma

AMES — No push. Few holes. Scant room to run.

Iowa State’s ground game bogged down yet again in Saturday’s 27-13 loss to Oklahoma at Jack Trice Stadium, managing to eke out a meager 66 yards on the ground against the worst rushing defense in the Big 12 by far.

It’s the fifth straight game the Cyclones (3-5, 0-5) failed to rush for more than 78 yards — and a key reason why all of those games have resulted in losses.

“Obviously that is a major issue and for whatever reason our inability to find consistency there really puts us behind the 8-ball offensively,” ISU head coach Matt Campbell.

On paper, the Sooners provided the Cyclones with their best chance to get on track on the ground. ISU entered the game a distant last in Big 12 play in rushing yards per game (61.0) and Oklahoma was similarly situated at the bottom of the league in terms of rushing yards allowed (274.3). So something had to give and with the Cyclones fielding their full cadre of four tailbacks for the first time all season, it seemed like the Sooners’ often-porous defense would buckle.

But it didn’t — and ISU quarterback Hunter Dekkers was his team’s leading rusher with 31 sack-affected yards on four carries.

“We’re good enough to be able to run the ball with more consistency with our tailbacks, so I still think it starts there,” Campbell said. “I thought Hunter did a great job, though, when we ask about decision-making plays.”

Almost all of Dekkers’ rushing yards came on scrambles. He reeled off a 28-yarder that took the Cyclones from the shadow of their end zone to the 30-yard line late in the fourth quarter, but threw his third interception on the following play. So positive plays often preceded negative ones again for ISU, which once again played good enough defensively to have a strong chance to win.

“We’re relentless,” said Cyclones linebacker Gerry Vaughn, who recovered a fumble forced by safety Myles Purchase in the first quarter. “Just going out there doing our job every single play and getting the ball back to the offense.”

Unfortunately for ISU, that isn’t leading to many points. The Cyclones have scored 13 or fewer points in three of their five losses — and haven’t topped 24 points a single time in Big 12 play.

“It’s hard to stay consistent,” said ISU receiver Jaylin Noel, who has three touchdown catches in the past two games. “We’ve just got to find a way to make the ball bounce our way and get the momentum going our way to get it rolling.”

That’s difficult when the running game is virtually non-existent on a week-to-week basis, but that’s where the Cyclones find themselves entering next Saturday’s home game against West Virginia (3-5, 1-4).

“It’s not like it’s every been real easy to win,” Campbell said. “Right? You’ve got to be able to do those things to win the football game.”

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