Iowa State senior CB Myles Purchase merges inner calm with a sense of ugency

AMES — Myles Purchase centers himself. He breathes deeply. Then he begins his practice.

Yoga has become an integral part of the Iowa State senior cornerback’s life, and executing its many poses has helped him become calm in the face of many storms.

“It’s optional, but a lot of (players) choose to do it,” said Purchase, the Cyclones’ most experienced returning corner by far this season. “It’s something we feel like is really beneficial for us and it’s something that we always come back to.”

The 5-foot-10, 205-pound Purchase has come back from several difficult moments on the field to emerge as the program’s standard-bearer at cornerback this season. He’s started at least one game in each of his three seasons at ISU, but was benched briefly at one point last season. Purchase recentered himself on the football field and — as his head coach Matt Campbell put it late last season — put himself “on a trajectory to really go have a phenomenal senior year.”

That senior season begins in less than two weeks. And with Purchase’s longtime bookend at corner T.J. Tampa now in the NFL, it’s his time to shine.

“I’m just a lot more confident,” said Purchase, who along with safety Beau Freyler leads all Cyclone defensive players in career starts at 25. “Honing in on the little things, the technique, will just bring my confidence to that next level.”

Last season, ISU’s secondary ranked a solid fifth in the then-14-team Big 12 in passing defense, allowing 228.9 yards through the air per game. But a deeper look at the statistics reveals just how good the Cyclones were on the back end in 2023. ISU led the Big 12 in passing yards allowed per attempt (6.6) and opposing quarterback completion percentage (55.8).

The Cyclones return their three top safeties in Freyler, Jeremiah Cooper and Malik Verdon, while senior special teams star Darien Porter and sophomore Jontez Williams vie to replace Tampa. ISU also added junior-college transfer Matthew Bess to the cornerbacks room and he’s positioned himself to earn playing time, as well.

“I feel like if you put any of us in we could be the best in the nation,” Bess said. “With what I see around the facility with the young guys making sure they’re getting in with the coaches, we could be the best in the nation if we really want to be and put our minds to it.”

The Cyclones also added LSU transfer Ryan Robinson, Jr. at cornerback this season, so the secondary is replete with depth.

“It’s a good situation to be in where we have some guys with experience, but (also) guys who are pushing each other,” ISU cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat said.

It’s a similar situation at safety where Cooper and Freyler return as all-Big 12 performers and Verdon — if he can stay healthy — is the same caliber player. Several younger players will see the field at safety this season, as well, so safeties coach Deon Broomfield is trying to accelerate the maturation process by mixing and matching lineups during fall camp.

“Maybe we hold (an older) guy on a rep count and day by day I’m trying to change up the lineup so guys get used to communicating with different people and there’s not really a drop off when a younger guy is in with an older guy,” Broomfield said. “Because if you look at our track record, come November, you don’t know who’s going to be in the lineup. So right now (we’re) trying to force the issue.”

Purchase doesn’t need to force anything now that his senior season has arrived. A sense of calm meets a high degree of urgency as he seeks to uphold a longstanding standard for the Cyclones’ defense.

“We continue to (preach) that defense lives here,” Purchase said. “That defense is a big thing here. (Defensive coordinator Jon) Heacock continues to push that narrative and we’re looking to just excel to the next level this year. We’re all going to have an underdog mentality, but at the end of the day, we just want to go against our opponent and dominate.”

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