Sooners Get Going on Ground and Grind Out a 34-6 Victory

NORMAN, Okla. — The No. 21-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, beset by a poor ground attack in the first three games, ran for a season-high 334 yards in a 34-6 victory over Iowa State Saturday in the Big Eight opener for both teams.

The Sooners (3-1) returned to the wishbone, but used it only 22 times and passed five of those times. They gained 93 yards in 17 rushes and the only touchdown out of the formation was a three-yard run by James Allen in the second quarter.

That was about what Coach Gary Gibbs expected. He had said the Sooners would use three backs more often, but also vowed that there wasn’t about to be a return to the days when Oklahoma ran all the time.

“We rushed the football much better than we had in our first three ball games,” Gibbs said. “(The wishbone) will give us an opportunity to do a variety of things.”

Allen ran for 111 yards and scored twice. A three-touchdown second quarter was too much to overcome for Iowa State (0-5), which hurt itself with three turnovers in losing to Oklahoma for the 32nd time in the past 34 meetings.