OU-Iowa State Q3 Report

AMES, Iowa — Lincoln Riley said Thursday he thought Spencer Rattler had the right kind of makeup for being a good road quarterback.

Rattler will try to prove Riley right on Saturday night in a tense Big 12 Conference game at Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium.

After Rattler engineered a clutch drive that produced a field goal and extended Oklahoma’s one-point lead to 20-16, Iowa State struck back quickly and took its first lead of the night, setting the stage for a memorable fourth quarter.

Brock Purdy found Xavier Hutchinson across the middle on a quick slant, and Hutchinson took it 65 yards for a touchdown and put the Cyclones ahead 23-20.

On the play, OU cornerback Jaden Davis gambled on trying to bat down the pass, but missed and the Sooners had no safeties deep, allowing Hutchinson to jog into the end zone.

During the Sooners’ previous drive, Rattler showed poise in the face of a stout Cyclones pass rush, delivering precise passes and timely runs in the late stages of the third quarter.

Rattler threw 10 yards to Jeremiah Hall to start the drive, but then, facing a 3rd-and-14, he scrambled out of trouble and took a hard hit on the sideline inches short of the first down.

Riley opted to go for it on fourth-and-1, and he called a pass play on which Rattler again evaded pressure, slid to his eight and found Drake Stoops, who caught a contested ball and spun through contact for the first down.

Rattler then zipped a bullet through traffic to Austin Stogner for an 11-yard gain before his final throw of the possession went through Obi Obialo’s hands.

That brought on Gabe Brkic, who rebounded from his first career miss — a 54-yard attempt on the final play of the first half — with a 33-yard field goal that extended OU’s lead to four.

Maybe the most advantageous thing about Oklahoma’s 11-play, 49-yard drive is that it drained six minutes off the clock and kept the Sooner defense on the sideline.

After scoring its first touchdown of the night late in the second quarter, Iowa State opened the third quarter on a 6 1/2-minute drive that covered 58 yards in 11 plays and ended with Connor Assalley’s third field goal of the night to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 17-16.

Breece Hall’s touchdown run late in the second quarter had put the Cyclones within 17-13.

Rattler’s first career touchdown run put the Sooners on the board in the first quarter, and his 4-yard TD throw to Jeremiah Hall gave OU a 17-6 lead early in the second quarter.

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