Iowa State loses Sullivan Schlimgen vs. Oklahoma State

The trouble started on one snap during Oklahoma State's drive, and it took out 2 Cyclones defenders at once.

Eugene Rapay

@erapay5

Seth Johnson and Sullivan Schlimgen both go down on the same play for the Iowa State defense. Not great for ISU.

Losing Seth Johnson and Sullivan Schlimgen on the same play is bad enough in a normal game. In a shootout where both offenses had been doing whatever they wanted, it was a gut punch. The Cowboys kept the drive alive and Caleb Hawkins finished it, punching in the touchdown that, with the PAT, made it a 3-point game.

Eugene Rapay

@erapay5

TOUCHDOWN: @CowboyFB's Caleb Hawkins punches it in. PAT good. 45-42 ISU. 8:00 4Q After getting looked at in the tent, Sullivan Schlimgen is back on the sideline. He's trying to walk, but really struggling/limping. Looks like he's headed to the locker room now.

That is about as grim as a sideline update gets. Schlimgen got looked at in the medical tent, came back out and tried to walk it off, and couldn't. Then he headed for the tunnel. Whatever the diagnosis turns out to be, a guy who can barely put weight on his leg is not coming back to chase down a Big 12 offense in the final 8 minutes.

And this isn't some rotational body. Schlimgen has been the engine of an Iowa State defense that has had very little going right this year. The Cyclones came into this one 3-4 and 1-3 in the Big 12, having already lost more than 10 players for the season, and Schlimgen was the bright spot even in their loss to Arizona, putting up 15 tackles, a sack and 2 tackles for loss.

Bill Seals

@williamseals

Sullivan Schlimgen now headed toward the locker room after leaving the field with a lower leg injury. Probably the one guy the defense could least afford to lose.

Hard to argue with that. Oklahoma State walked into Ames at 5-2 and ranked No. 24, and the Cyclones already had a list of missing pieces as long as your arm. Taking the defense's best tackler off the field with the game hanging on stops is the worst possible timing for an Iowa State team that needed this one to get its season pointed back in the right direction.

What to watch now: whether Iowa State can get 1 more stop without him, Seth Johnson's status after going down on the same play, and what the Cyclones say about Schlimgen's lower leg once the game is over. If it's anything long term, the back half of Iowa State's schedule just got a lot scarier.