Hell froze over on a football-perfect afternoon in Norman, Okla.
NORMAN, Okla. — Holy crap.
Iowa State did the unbelievable.
Hell froze over on a football-perfect afternoon in Norman, Okla.
The Cyclones not only upset the third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, 38-31, but again, they caused havoc with the College Football Playoffs.
It happened less than 24 hours after Matt Campbell announced that starting quarterback Jacob Park was taking a medical absence .
It happened on a day when a third-string quarterback became the starter and when Joel Lanning did a lot of everything.
“omg,” as they say on the social media circuit.
Kyle Kempt was much better than advertised, the third-string quarterback suddenly starting on the road against the nation’s third-ranked team.
He was waaaaay better than anyone outside the Iowa State family imagined —especially in front of a sellout crowd.
Baker Mayfield for Heisman?
Kempt was darn good, too, and so were a lot of others.
He was especially outstanding with a 25-yard toss into the corner of the end zone that Allen Lazard caught amid a couple defenders. With 2:19 left, it was 38-31 Iowa State.
Through three quarters, it was 24-all. It was 31-24 Cy after Kempt and Trever Ryen hooked up on a 57-yard catch-and-run with 12:46 left in the fourth quarter.
Upset alert. Major upset alert. The college football world suddenly was tuning into the goings on in Norman.
Previously from Peterson: Without Jacob Park, where does ISU go from here? Kyle Kempt gets first shot .
Leading the Sooners — a day after Iowa State announced starting quarterback Jacob Park was taking a medical leave of absence — was astonishing.
The Vegas Insider betting line went up about five points when news spread about Park. The few people who thought the Cyclones actually had a serious chance to win were even abandoning that ship.
They didn’t know what to expect from Kempt, a senior who played in only mop-up duty at Akron. They didn’t know David Montgomery would be so good on this day.
And they certainly didn’t know Joel Lanning would be this game’s Ironman.
He started at linebacker. He played quarterback. He played on special teams.
He was Iowa State’s first player since receiver-defensive back Dave McCurry in 1971 to play significant snaps on both sides of the ball in the same game.
Holy crap…
There’s hope for Iowa State’s season after all. A lot of hope.
