There’s a ton of respect between Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley and Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. That’s for good reason, too.
The Cyclones have been a thorn in the Sooners side for the last three years. Iowa State came into Norman, Oklahoma, and won in 2017, Oklahoma won by 10 on the road in 2018 and then the Cyclones almost pulled off another upset in 2019 when the Sooners needed a last-second interception on a two-point conversion to win.
Now, Chris Klieman at Kansas State has a lot to say about who has pushed Oklahoma the most, but Campbell isn’t too far behind.
Iowa State is 1-1 on the year, suffering a loss to Louisiana in the Cyclones first game then bouncing back in their Big 12 opener against TCU. Oklahoma is also 1-1 with a win over FCS Missouri State and a loss in its opener to Kansas State last week.
Here is what Campbell said about Iowa State’s matchup with the Sooners.
SPENCER RATTLER
“I think first and foremost is elite arm strength. When you watch him play, I think the thing that is so impressive like so many of their guys is the way the ball really jumps off of his arm. His ability to make all of those throws that you’ve seen … we’ve seen up close and personal over the last five years and it’s been really impressive.
“I think the second thing is you can see even just getting into a great rhythm as the early parts in the season and some young players in some new roles for them, you can see even over the course of two games the steps they are making. I think a really dangerous, potent offense and Spencer a really talented football player.”
OklAHOMA’s Defense
“I think what you’re seeing is still an outstanding defense. The amount of guys that they have back on defense, this team speed—TCU can really run, this is an elite speed in my opinion. With elite speed creates elite cover ability. I think all of us are dealing with the challenge early on of efficiency in terms of tackling, but I also think there are some really great plays that this Oklahoma defense has played with through the first two games. I think this is going to be a great challenge for our entire offense because of team speed.”
ON SPENCER RATTLER DEALING WITH ADVERSITY
“I think the first conversation would be is your talking about one of the best quarterback coaches and, obviously, one of the best offensive minds in our sports and so I think that is a huge positive for Spencer to have as he works and develop and grows. And then No. 2, I think the big thing and the reality for all these teams and all these players is you still have to play the game and you still have to be able to go out and go through tough times. I think every great player and every great team has to have adversity and then obviously have to have the ability to respond to it.
“I think when you even look at last week’s game, boy, that Oklahoma offense really got going. You look at total yards—almost 600 total yards. A lot of really positive things from that offense. Just some mistakes that occurred. And again, in this time where we’re at, I think you’re going to mistakes occur. Instead of those mistakes maybe happening in scrimmages or practices, they are going to happen wide open in these game settings just with how early I think we all are in terms of our development and growth as football teams.”
[vertical-gallery id=18354]