A Win is a Win

Dating back to 1937, Oklahoma's football record is 195-0 when leading by at least 21 points at halftime.

That mark nearly slipped to 194-1 on Saturday night, but the Sooners managed to avoid a second straight upset loss at home at the hands of Iowa State.

OU cornerback Parnell Motley intercepted a pass on a two-point conversion attempt with 24 seconds remaining, allowing the No. 9 Sooners to survive with a 42-41 victory over the pesky Cyclones at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Afterward, OU third-year head coach Lincoln Riley said he told his players that championship seasons are not all perfect. The Sooners' imperfection came two weeks earlier with their 48-41 loss at Kansas State, which ended their 22-game true road winning streak.

A setback against ISU would have ended OU's chances for a fourth College Football Playoff appearance in the last five seasons. No team with more than one loss has ever qualified for the CFP since it began in 2014.

"It's still a win, and that's what it's got to be."
- Lincoln Riley

"Thrilled to get a win," Riley said. "Obviously, not real enthused that we let the game get a lot closer than we're going to feel like we should have. Like I told the guys in there, you go back and watch videos of championship teams (and) after the fact, they recap their seasons or what it was like, a lot of the times you have in your head that everything went perfect and everything went right, smooth and played great all the time. Most of the time you have very defining moments and tough games, tough situations you have to overcome. We did tonight."

The Sooners (8-1 overall, 5-1 in Big 12) collected their 15th straight victory on their home field. OU has won every home game since falling in a 2017 upset to the Cyclones (5-4, 3-3), who are responsible for Riley's lone home blemish (17-1).

Had they not beaten ISU, the Sooners would have lost back-to-back regular-season games for the first time since Oct. 2 and Oct. 9 in the 1999 season, which was Bob Stoops' first season as head coach.

The OU offense clicked in the first half with 374 total yards and 19 first downs to build a 35-14 lead at intermission.

"The first half was probably the best that we've played all year," Riley said. "Honestly, the first half was probably one of the best halves that we've played since I've been here (2015) with any team, because they're damn good on defense. Nobody's done to them what we did in that first half."

Quarterback Jalen Hurts entered the game leading the nation in points responsible for per game (25.8), and by halftime already had accounted for 30 points with five touchdowns (three passing and two rushing). And receiver CeeDee Lamb continued to add to his All-America credentials with six first-half receptions for 142 yards and two touchdowns (48 and 63 yards).

But the second half wasn't nearly as impressive for OU, which managed just 125 total yards and five first downs while getting outscored 27-7, including 20-0 in the fourth quarter, as the Sooners' defense allowed 266 yards and 16 first downs.

"Give Iowa State credit, they made a nice run certainly there at the end," Riley said. "(There were) a lot of things that we didn't do very good there at the end of the game, really on all three sides... I thought for stretches in this game we probably played our best ball that we have all year as a team. We separated from them, really dominated the game for a large period of time. Again, disappointing to not finish it. It's still a win, and that's what it's got to be. Proud of getting a win and a lot of things this team can continue to grow on and get better, and that's the case in November."

Though OU managed to survive while excelling for only one half, ISU head coach Matt Campbell said it would take four quarters of quality play for his team to defeat the Sooners.

"Unfortunately, at Iowa State you've got to play four quarters with great detail," Campbell said. "We're just not that team that's going to be able to play three quarters or two-and-a-half quarters and win football games. Our key to success is playing four quarters, and obviously we didn't do that tonight and it caught up to us again."

Riley said he was "virtually 100-percent certain" the Cyclones would go for a two-point conversion rather than kick the extra point and go into overtime, especially given the play of sophomore quarterback Brock Purdy, who completed 19 of 30 passes for 282 yards and five touchdowns and also had 55 yards rushing for another score.

"When I see Brock Purdy making unbelievable plays," Campbell explained, "I'd rather put the game in his hands. I trust him. I believe in him. He's unbelievable."

"You've got to win tough games. I want to play better in the second half and blow them out worse than anybody in this room, but winning is winning and that's a win."
- Lincoln Riley

Although Motley's pick doesn't qualify as an interception in the official stats, it was still a game-clincher. The Sooners have now gone five straight games without causing a turnover.

"Defensively, the inability to tackle and falling down in coverage. Things that can't happen, shouldn't happen," OU defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said. "I've got to be a lot better moving forward for us to do anything that we want to do as a football team. The route in defensive football is the tackle has to be made every single snap regardless of the scoreboard. It never does get easy."

After excelling the first seven games of the season, the OU defense has surrendered 89 points, 903 total yards and 50 first downs in the last two outings.

"We can have a good week of practice, doesn't matter if you don't tackle on Saturday," Grinch said. "In any event, that's something that just when you analyze whether it's the end of the half or a possession or two in the first half or a possession in the third quarter, fourth quarter, what's the scoreboard read? Does that impact us? That's just something that continues to be a frustrating deal for us because you're not seeing the same urgency, intensity, energy and obviously execution for four quarters, so we've got to do a better job as coaches."

With Saturday night's escape, the Sooners have now won 18 straight games in November and their hopes for a CFP berth remain alive.

"Absolutely. Absolutely," Riley said. "You all have been around here the last few years like I have. You've got to win tough games. That's a good football team, I'm just telling you right now. Listen, I want to play a lot better. I want to play better in the second half and blow them out worse than anybody in this room, but winning is winning and that's a win."

Next up is a showdown against league-leading Baylor (9-0, 6-0) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC) in Waco, where ESPN's College GameDay will be staged.