Cyclones have high expectations -- even if others don't

AMES – Not much – good, anyway – is expected out of Iowa State's football team this season in the eyes of college football's so-called experts.

They're in for a nice surprise then.

Ben Lamaak and his teammates in the 515 are confident they will deliver a much better season than what those outside the area code are giving them credit for.

“Definitely,” Lamaak said Wednesday during the Cyclones' media day festivities with reporters. “I see the players we have and the work we are putting in. It's going to be a good year.”

The Cyclones are eager to prove wrong those magazine publishers and media members who cover the Big 12 Conference, whose poll has ISU pegged for last place in the North Division for the fourth consecutive season.

Yes, eight of its 12 opponents played in the postseason last year. And yes, the defense lost several impact players from a unit that wasn't real good to begin with.

But this team won seven games a year ago, including a bowl, and returns the majority of its best offensive players.

“We are going to let those guys think what they want,” said Lamaak, ISU's senior center, an Outland Trophy nominee and a former Kennedy H.S. star. “That stuff doesn't really bother me. We are going to go out and play our game.”

Being underestimated has been something ISU teams have gotten used to.

The Cyclones have been picked fifth or sixth in 11 of the 15 preseason polls since the Big 12 was formed for the 1996 season.

Most of the players on this team know no different. Junior cornerback Leonard Johnson has actually come to embrace the Cyclones' lack of respect.

“I love being the underdog,” Johnson said. “You surprise people the value of it is so much more. When you have high expectations of a team and they fall short it's like, ‘Ah, man.' But when you come up and make something happen, people respect you more.”

Like last year, when ISU improved from 2-10 – including 10-straight losses that ended the season – to 7-6 and a victory over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl.

This fall, the schedule stiffens considerably.

There are non-conference games against Iowa, Utah and Northern Illinois. Then you have trips to Texas and Oklahoma, and home dates with Texas Tech and North favorite Nebraska.

Some are calling it the most difficult slate in the nation.

“Everyone's seen the schedule,” said senior quarterback Austen Arnaud. “I'm excited about it.”

Coach Paul Rhoads has addressed it with his players. He's not trying to overwhelm them.

Preseason practices begin today for ISU. The season opener is Thursday, Sept. 2, at Jack Trice Stadium against a team widely considered a contender to win the Mid-American Conference title.

“Our focus right now is not even on Northern Illinois,” Rhoads said. “Our focus right is continuing to improve as a football team as we go through camp.”

Defensively the Cyclones are going to need to make huge strides.

Seven starters from a year ago are gone, including all three linebackers and two linemen. Expected starter at tackle, Austin Alburtis, decided not to return to the team, leaving even more of a hole in the middle of the defense.

It's going to be a process.

“Hopefully every single day we can take a step forward to becoming a unit,” said safety Mike O'Connell, who played a lot last year but is still learning the ropes some himself. “Taking it to the field is the next step (for the new players).”

This will be the senior's first – and only – season as a starter.

Rhoads came in with the idea that his first Cyclone team could reach – and win a bowl game. He's not lowering those expectations – despite what others think about his team's chances of meeting them.

“The expectations will remain the same year in and year out, that's to win a bowl game,” Rhoads said. “That's what you play and prepare for.”