Matt Campbell, Iowa State coordinators seeing flashes from team in scrimmages

AMES — Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell isn't seeing a finished product at any point during his practices, but that's not necessarily what he's expecting.

Through 12 spring practices and with just one week left, Campbell wants to see incremental improvements and no repeated mistakes. After the Cyclones scrimmage Saturday — which he characterized as physical — Campbell said the ISU defense is slightly ahead of the offense in the learning curve.

'There was a lot of situational football (Saturday), but I'll tell you (there) were some really good things to work through and some really good things showed up,' Campbell said. 'I thought defensively we came to play. Probably three-fourths of the scrimmage I thought they played at a really high rate.'

Defensive coordinator Jon Heacock has seen his unit make strides through 12 practices, although he admits he has high standards in how he wants to see them progress. Heacock described himself as rather impatient, but said he's tried to balance his impatience with straightforward film analysis.

'So I'm not and I won't ever be (patient), but I am sharp enough to know whether our guys are learning and working at it,' Heacock said. 'I believe they are and as long as you do that, you'll have a chance. We're a long way from where we need to get, but again I think if you're taking steps forward and getting 2 percent better all the time — which I think we are — then we'll continue to improve and get better.'

Playmakers have emerged in the form of safety Kamari Cotton-Moya and defensive lineman Demond Tucker, but Heacock has paid a lot of attention to the linebackers. Campbell said last week that was the position group that concerned him the most and even though Heacock wants to see more from the position as well, there have been some things that have stood out.

Heacock said he's put a lot on the plate of the linebackers in spring drills — asking them to learn middle, strong and weak side techniques — but has recognized Kane Seeley as a player that stood out in the middle.

'(Seeley's) real sharp and if he made a mistake today, it would be minimal I'm guessing,' Heacock said. 'He gets everybody lined up and knows exactly what he's doing and he's a tough guy in there. He plays the game, he's physical, big, can run enough and he's been a good Mike linebacker for us. He's done a good job so far.'

For as little patience as Heacock said he possesses, offensive coordinator Tom Manning said patience is his key to guiding his unit. Quarterback Joel Lanning and running back Mike Warren are the steady performers offensively and have been working without wide receiver Allen Lazard.

Lazard received a hairline fracture to his right hand last week in practice and will miss next Saturday's spring game, Iowa State confirmed, however, he will not undergo surgery and will be ready for the summer.

Manning's primary objective in the spring, summer and fall camp will be rebuilding an offensive line without many guys with experience to lean on. Last season at Toledo, Manning replaced five offensive linemen and still helped the Rockets averaged 207.9 rushing yards per game.

Red-shirt freshmen Julian Good-Jones and Bryce Meeker of Cedar Rapids along with Patrick Scoggins and Nick Fett have stood out this spring, but the next few months will be a little like putting together pieces of a puzzle and find who plays well next to whom.

'The biggest thing when you're building an offensive line is you have to have patience and you have to understand that it's not going to look like the Chicago Bears the first day,' Manning said. 'You have to understand that.

'Obviously it's a test in patience, but from our end we're really happy with the growth we've had, but it can't stop here. It has to happen with our young men all the way through. They have to work their tails off all the way through until we play that first game.'

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