Iowa State Cyclones Keep It Simple In Victory Against Oklahoma State Cowboys

The Iowa State Cyclones didn't have to do anything fancy in their eighth win of the season.

Iowa State's Chase Sowell (0) scores a touchdown as Oklahoma State's Eric Fletcher (13) defends in the first half of the college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Iowa State Cyclones at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday Nov. 29, 2025. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones were able to finish off the season strong with a victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys, as expected, in the regular season finale. 

Coming into the matchup, the Cyclones were expected to be able to handle business relatively easily against the Cowboys. Iowa State was nearly a two-touchdown favorite on the road, indicating that they should win comfortably. 

While it might not have been as easy as the team would have liked, it was a reasonably comfortable win for the program. Fortunately, a good start helped set the tone for the program. 

Despite taking a 10-0 lead in the first half, the Cyclones allowed a late touchdown to give some hope to the Cowboys. In the first half, it wasn’t an overly impressive showing by Iowa State. Carson Hansen was primarily held in check on the ground, and Rocco Becht totaled just 54 passing yards. 

Cyclones Keep it Simple

SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the second half, the passing offense continued to stay stagnant with a couple of drops by pass-catchers and more ineffectiveness. Fortunately, the rushing game was able to make up for it, and that was the difference-maker in the game. 

On the ground, it was Abu Sama III who arguably had the better game despite Hansen getting the bulk of the work. Sama has proven that he can be a great player for the program when his partner in the backfield is out. In this win, the team featured both of them quite a bit, and the plan was to keep it simple. 

Due to the Cowboys’ offense not providing much in terms of being a threat, Iowa State had the luxury of not having to get overly fancy in this game. Controlling time of possession and not making mistakes seemed like the plan, especially after they got an early lead. 

While it would have been nice to see the Cyclones build some momentum in the passing game, it will go down as another disappointing performance in that area. Luckily, the passing offense didn’t need to thrive in order to secure a win. 

Next up for the Cyclones will be a bit of a waiting game to see who they will be playing in their bowl game. With an 8-4 record in the Big 12, they should get a good bowl matchup against another talented team to further prove themselves and try to secure their ninth win.