Oklahoma made another switch in its starting defensive backfield, inserting Lendy Holmes in place of D.J. Wolfe at the boundary cornerback position Saturday.
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Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said Holmes earned the start with his performance in practice.
"What you do in practice shows," Holmes said. "Coach (Venables) will give you a fair chance if you show him what you've got in practice and that's what I did this week."
Wolfe played all of last week's game at the position, despite allowing a 33-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter against Texas.
Coaches spoke well of Wolfe's performance in that game, outside of the TD.
The combination of Holmes and Marcus Walker at cornerbacks, Reggie Smith at strong safety and Darien Williams at free safety gave the Sooners their strongest pass coverage performance of the season.
Iowa State finished with 149 yards passing, 72 of which came on the Cyclones' first-quarter touchdown drive.
Saturday's starters will hold their positions — unless something changes in practice this week.
"Nobody has anything set in stone," head coach Bob Stoops said. "You have to earn it every week. You earn it with the way you practice, the way you show up and play every day, in practice and games.
"If you're not doing it to the level we think you should, someone else deserves an opportunity to do it."
• Blinded: Smith did not field an Iowa State punt early in the third quarter, which was downed at the 2-yard line. On the next play, Adrian Peterson fumbled in the end zone and Iowa State recovered the ball for a safety.
Smith had room for the return, but said he lost it in the sun.
"Coach (Stoops) wasn't too happy with me," Smith said. "I didn't want to run over there and muff it or anything, so I just let it bounce.
• Darien's pick: Williams, a junior, recorded the first interception of his career late in the fourth quarter.
He returned it 35 yards to the Iowa State 39, where he barely stepped out of bounds on his way to the end zone.
"I knew it was coming," Williams said. "I saw it and I was focused.
"I stepped out a little bit. I felt it. (I kept going) just in case they didn't see it."
Williams also was credited with two sacks and said it was likely the best game of his career.
• ISU injury: Iowa State kick returner/defensive back DeAndre Jackson apparently suffered a torn ACL on a kickoff return in the second quarter.
"I think his career is over," Cyclones head coach Dan McCarney said. "We will have an MRI this week to confirm (that his ACL is torn), but that is what the doctors think and they usually aren't wrong.
Jackson, a senior from Garland, Texas, was on the preseason All-Big 12 team as both a defensive back and kick returner.
• One man short: On Iowa State's first punt of the game, OU coaches made a late decision to insert the punt return team, rather than leave the regular defensive players on the field to guard against a fake.
The change left the Sooners with just 10 men.
Smith fielded the short punt on one bounce and returned it 1 yard.
By Scott Wright
