By ROBERT CESSNAConventional wisdom suggests the Iowa State football team could be a little flat coming off last week's emotional victory at Nebraska.
That shouldn't be the case for the Cyclones' offensive line, which has been a huge strength for a surprising ISU team that can become bowl-eligible with a victory over Texas A&M at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Kyle Field.
ISU starts three players from the state of Texas on the offensive line, making it a homecoming of sorts for senior center Reggie Stephens, junior left guard Alex Alvarez and sophomore left tackle Kelechi Osemele.
"I've got to find a lot of tickets because a lot of family and friends are trying to come see us play," said Stephens, who went to high school at Dallas Jesuit.
The transplanted Texans have a reason to want family and friends at Kyle Field. ISU averages 204.3 yards rushing per game, which tops the Big 12 and is 16th best in the country.
"I'm very impressed with their offensive line," said A&M head coach Mike Sherman, a former offensive line coach.
The Cyclones had rushed for at least 190 yards in seven straight games until being held to 137 by Nebraska. But the Cyclones were missing quarterback Austen Arnaud and running back Alexander Robinson, who had combined for 84.5 percent of the team's offensive production. Without them, the Cyclones still leaned on their offensive line and an opportunistic defense that forced eight turnovers. ISU rushed the ball a season-high 48 times. It wasn't fancy, but it was effective as the Cyclones didn't have a turnover and held the ball for 33 minutes, 40 seconds.
"It's [going to be] exciting to go back and put on a good show for them and not have to worry about how we're going to perform," Stephens said. "We just have to go out and have some fun."
Stephens, who has started 36 straight games, had little to cheer about in the previous three seasons -- and nothing save blind faith could've led him to think his Cyclones would play well in a big game. ISU was 9-26, including 3-21 in Big 12 play.
The Cyclones have done plenty of celebrating this season. ISU ended a 10-game losing streak with a season-opening 34-17 victory over North Dakota State. Then the Cyclones ended an 11-game Big 12 losing streak with a 24-10 victory over Baylor two weeks ago. The resurgence hit full swing Saturday with a 9-7 victory at Nebraska, the first time ISU had won in Lincoln, Neb., since 1977. It also broke a 14-game road losing streak in league play.
"Last to first, I told ya," Stephens said as he took the podium at Monday's press conference. ISU (5-3, 2-2) is in second place in the North Division behind Kansas State (5-3, 3-1), which is in title contention because the Wildcats had 52 carries for 232 yards in a 62-14 victory over the Aggies two weeks ago. That's the most carries and yards A&M has allowed this year.
ISU presents a much bigger challenge. The Cyclones average 326.6 pounds across the line, and 243-pound tight end Derrick Catlett is an excellent blocker. A&M's starting front seven on defense averages only 254.9 pounds a man. A&M is allowing 152.1 yards per game on the ground, which ranks just 78th nationally.
"They block on the perimeter well, and their line moves the line of scrimmage," Sherman said. "We're going to have to get geared up and have a physical week of practice to get ready for what we anticipate to be a very good run game and effective passing game."
ISU's lone blowout loss was 35-3 to rival Iowa, which is unbeaten. The Cyclones still averaged 5.6 yards per carry against Iowa but were slowed by a season-high six turnovers. ISU has had only three turnovers in the last five games.
"We have a huge task at hand to get everything grouped up and solid on the run," A&M defensive coordinator Joe Kines said. "It's a little different tempo than the last game, one that if we don't improve our tackling it's not going to matter anyways. We've got to get better at tackling and getting off the blocks."
*
NOTES -- Alvarez, who played at Clear Creek High, is a junior college transfer from Kilgore. Osemele played at Langham Creek. ISU has a pair of reserve offensive linemen from Texas on the depth chart -- sophomore right guard Tray Baysinger from Dallas Carter and sophomore right tackle Zack Spears from Arp. None of ISU's Texans on the offensive line were Top 100 recruits by rivals.com. ... ISU senior starting linebacker Fred Garrin is from Shepherd.
RUNNING CYCLONES
Here's the rushes and yards by Iowa State in each game this season:
North Dakota State 40-204
Iowa 34-190
Kent State 42-234
Army 44-203
Kansas State 41-207
Kansas 43-219
Baylor 46-240
Nebraska 48-137
Totals: 338-1,634
TEXAS A&M FOOTBALL
* Saturday's game: Iowa State (5-3, 2-2 Big 12) at Texas A&M (4-3, 1-2), 2:30 p.m.
* TV/radio: None/WTAW, 1620 AM and Sirius Ch. 154
* Tickets: $60-$65 (half-price tickets available for veterans, active duty personnel and reservists for Military Appreciation Day; half-price tickets in the end zone also available).
Notice about comments:
Theeagle.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. theeagle.com cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not theeagle.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Full terms and conditions can be read here.
Aggiesports.com is proud to offer our users enhanced commenting features. You can now build user-to-user connections, follow friends’ recent posts, add an avatar that fits your personality and more. If you have posted here before you’ll need to sign up again, and if you’ve never posted start now by signing up! If you've already registered for the new comments on www.theeagle.com then just use your Eagle username to log in and start commenting.
