No. 14 Iowa State seeks creative balance against unique Arizona defense

AMES — Iowa State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser never met a play he didn’t like.

At least a little bit.

At least initially.

At least until it passes or fails a key litmus test.

“We have a library with that stuff,” said Mouser, who will likely need to be extra creative against Arizona’s stingy defense in the No. 14 Cyclones Big 12 home opener at 6 p.m. Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium. “The other part of it is, too, will (head coach Matt) Campbell yell at me if it doesn’t work. I think about that a little bit, too. That’s in the back of my mind.”

But a wellspring of innovation bursts from the forefront of Mouser’s mind — and inspiration often cones from diverse sources. Mouser finds unique play calls from other college and pro games and asks himself if they’d fit the Cyclones’ offense. If they do, he tucks them away in the stacks of that virtual library, ready to be plucked from the shelf at any time.

“We watch a lot of the same games everybody watches,” ISU’s second-year offensive coordinator said. “We watched the Purdue-Notre Dame game, and the Purdue guy throws it back to the quarterback, and we watched the (Detroit) Lions game (Monday) night, with (former ISU assistant Tyler) Roehl there, and they run the cool option play. So the light bulb goes on all the time.”

The Wildcats (3-0) have dimmed each offense’s fixtures they’ve faced this season, however, and aim to do the same against the Cyclones (4-0, 1-0 Big 12), who are 6.5-point favorites in a game that will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

Arizona’s defense relies in a unique 4-2-5 scheme that seeks to wreak havoc at the point of attack, blowing up combination blocks to drop running backs and quarterbacks in the backfield multiple times per game. The Wildcats average 8.33 tackles for loss — more than double the average that ISU’s offense has been saddled with over the first four games. It’s imperative quarterback Rocco Becht gets the ball out quickly, and top tailbacks such as Carson Hansen and Abu Sama attack the line of scrimmage without hesitation or lateral jukes.

“They’re different than probably anything that at least I’ve seen since I’ve been with Coach Campbell,” Mouser said of Arizona’s defense. “Just the changes they’ve made from last year, the way the defense runs to the football, the blitzing, the twisting, you know, differences in fronts — it’s a real challenge. Credit to those guys for the turnaround they’ve made. They have a lot of seniors on the defense that play really, really hard.”

With experience comes buy-in. And with buy-in comes results. Arizona went 4-8 after joining the Big 12 last season, but now showcases ample talent in all three phases. So the Wildcats are primed to become conference title contenders — but first quarterback Noah Fifita and his teammates plan to be spoilers Saturday night in Ames.

“Definitely got a mobile quarterback, gotta be ready for him,” ISU cornerback Tre Bell said. “They have good receivers, good running backs. We’ve just gotta be ready. We’ve just gotta keep honing in our details, worried about us.”

That’s true on both sides of the ball, of course, but it’s a more pronounced necessity in Mouser’s offense. The Cyclones rank a solid 35th nationally in producing plays spanning 30 or more yards from scrimmage this season and must be able to ramp up that total to thwart the Wildcats’ chaotic defensive approach.

Arizona’s allowed opponents gain 30 or more yards in just two plays so far this season, so Mouser’s creativity should be on full display, even as he must be measured and strategic in taking shots; carefully considering risk versus reward in an effort to maintain a potent balance.

“It can be hard not to just put your foot on the gas pedal and overdo it, but it still comes back to us, and what do our guys know,” Mouser said. “What can we go out there and do well and how does it fit our guys? Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. You don’t want to overdo it because they’re all good ideas and you can’t run them all.”

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