The Crimson & Cream bounced back on Senior Day.

On a perfect day for football, the No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners celebrated Senior Day with a 28-21 victory over the Iowa State Cyclones (6-5, 4-4). With the win, OU improves to 10-1 on the season, 7-1 in Big 12 play.

Caleb Williams followed up his poorest performance of the season last weekend with another tough showing against ISU. Despite struggling to conduct the offense with any semblance of consistency, the true freshman dual-threat completed 8-of-18 passes for 87 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also added 67 rushing yards and another score on 12 carries.

After Oklahoma’s defense gave up a game-opening touchdown drive to Iowa State junior RB Breece Hall, Williams responded right away on the Sooners’ second play of the game with a 74-yard rushing touchdown.

Later in the first quarter, a scrambling Brock Purdy found himself on the bad end of Perrion Winfrey locomotive to the chest. The destructive collision forced a defensive stop for the Sooners and set the tone of the defense for the next two quarters.

Just before the end of the first half, as the Cyclones were driving, the OU defense rose up to make one of the plays of the year. Key Lawrence flew in to force a Purdy fumble, and a perfect bounce landed in the hands of a streaking Jalen Redmond for a massive scoop-and-score that gave the Sooners the lead going into the break.

Defensively, the Sooners held the Cyclones in check for most of the day until late. Still, after an abysmal outing in Waco one week ago, Alex Grinch’s defense stymied ISU for just 51 total rushing yards while also forcing a pair of turnovers. Going forward, it’ll be crucial for this team to maintain that level of play as the competition ramps up even more.

In the second half, after Oklahoma built a 28-14 lead in the fourth, backup Iowa State QB Hunter Dekkers came in for a hurt Purdy and led the Fighting Matt Campbells to a scoring drive. Purdy would later return to try to complete the comeback, but a tipped ball on fourth down landed in the hands of senior safety Pat Fields to effectively seal the deal.

Up next, Oklahoma wraps up the 2021 regular season in Stillwater on Saturday, Nov. 27. There, a highly anticipated Bedlam matchup with the Oklahoma State Cowboys awaits. Depending on what happens later today, and should OU win that contest, there’s a strong chance that the Big 12 Championship Game one week later features an immediate rematch between the Sooner state school. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.

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