Iowa State's Austen Arnaud works on his feet

For Austen Arnaud, it starts with his feet.

And he's not talking about running with the football. This has to do with throwing it.

Arnaud isn't completing passes at the rate that would be expected out of Iowa State's spread offense. The scheme emphasizes quick, short passes, which should lead to a high completion percentage for the quarterback.

But Arnaud has completed just 54.4 percent of his passes, a figure that ranks 11th among the Big 12's starting quarterbacks. Nine of the league's quarterbacks are completing at least 60 percent of their passes, led by Colt McCoy of Texas at 71 percent.

Arnaud completed 61.6 percent of his passes last season.

“A lot of it's mechanics,” he said. “A lot of the quick throws I've had, I'm struggling a little bit to my left throwing the ball.”

So how does he fix that?

“Just relaxing with my feet,” he said.

The same goes for his head. Offensive coordinator Tom Herman, who coaches the quarterbacks, said Arnaud has to get better at clearing his mind after a bad play or series.

“You have to shut that off and have a relaxed concentration and let the mechanics and fundamentals take over,” Herman said. “That's something he hasn't let go of yet. He's his own worst enemy and it shows sometimes when he gets out there.

“He wants to win and wants to be perfect so bad that he tries too hard.”

Herman said he and Arnaud are reading a book together to help in that area.

“It talks about shutting off your mind a little bit,” he said.

Arnaud's accuracy struggles don't just rest with him, however. The receivers have to shoulder some blame.

“We do have to do a better job out on the perimeter of being in the right place at the right time, there's no doubt,” Herman said. “But we have to start in our room first.”

Iowa State starts Big 12 play Saturday against Kansas State at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Coach Paul Rhoads said that adds to the importance of Arnaud improving his completion percentage.

“It should be higher in this offense,” he said.

Arnaud threw several off-target balls in the first half of ISU's 31-10 victory over Army last Saturday night. But he bounced back with a solid second half, going 7-for-11 for 135 yards.

“There's been a combination of things,” Rhoads said. “Some balls that should be easy throw-and-catch balls, we've had some of those knocked down. He's made some errant throws. We've had a few drops. All that contributes to it.

“But it needs to gain in percentage as the year goes along if we're going to remain effective.”