Iowa State set to debut new-look defense
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State cobbled together a decent defense last season with a bunch of players few people had ever heard of.
The Cyclones will try to do the same in 2010 with a new cast of unknowns.
Iowa State will break in three new linebackers during Thursday night's opener against Northern Illinois, and strong safety David Sims' one-game suspension leaves the Cyclones with just one returning starter in the defensive secondary.
Iowa State also has two new starters along its defensive line, and veteran end Rashawn Parker will see his first action since a knee injury ended his 2009 season just four games in.
If the Cyclones are going to prove wrong the doubters that picked them to finish last in the Big 12 North, their new-look defense is going to have to get up to speed in a hurry.
"It's a work in progress is how it's developed. I think it will continue to be throughout the season," second-year Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said Monday. "Those guys are going to have to improve daily, they're going to have to improve game-by-game."
The hot spot for Iowa State's defense will be the linebacking corps, which lost first-team All-Big 12 pick Jessie Smith. The coaching staff is high on all three starters; sophomores A.J. Klein and Jake Knott and junior Matt Tau'fo'ou (ta-FOH-oh), but the trio has yet to carry such a heavy load in game action.
Klein, a 6-foot-1, 240-pounder from Kimberly, Wis., got on the field for all 13 games last season and made 17 tackles, and Knott had six tackles in wins over Baylor and Kent State.
Tau'fo'ou was a highly regarded junior college transfer, but he barely saw the field in 2009. The three linebackers listed as second-stringers -- sophomores Matt Morton and Kevin Hamlin and freshman Jeremiah George -- don't yet appear ready for significant playing time.
"The linebacking corps is talented, as we know, but it's extremely thin," Rhoads said. "We're going to have to be healthy there all season long to be effective."
Rhoads said the secondary will be the strength of the defense, though it'll miss Sims' experience and play-making skills against the Huskies. Sims was the Big 12's Defensive Newcomer of the Year in 2009 and led the Cyclones with five interceptions.
Speedy junior cornerback Leonard Johnson, who will also factor heavily in the return game, appears primed for a breakout season after making 64 tackles in 2009, and fellow junior corner Ter'Ran Benton could also emerge after a broken leg cost him most of last season.
Senior free safety Michael O'Connell came out of nowhere to become a leader on last year's unit, and he and Sims will be counted on heavily.
"We're not where we want to be," O'Connell said. "Until this first game, that's kind of when we can see how far we've really come. That'll be the true test for our defense."
The Cyclones' interior is loaded with veteran players who've yet to emerge, including senior defensive tackle Bailey Johnson and nose tackle Stephen Ruempolhamer. Starters Parker and Patrick Neal return on the edges, though at 6-feet and 250 and 235 pounds, respectively, they'll often be facing size disadvantages.
Iowa State's defense had a knack for allowing teams to march up and down the field last season without letting them find the end zone. The Cyclones, who finished 7-6, were fifth in the Big 12 with just under 22 points allowed per game last season despite giving up nearly 420 yards an outing.
The odds are that Iowa State can't afford to bend so much without breaking this season, especially against teams that combined to finish 97-56 in 2009.
"Rush yardage, pass yardage, total yardage are all areas that we need to improve upon if we're going to begin to become a good defensive team in the Big 12," Rhoads said.