11 is lonely number for ISU defensive line

Eleven.

It's a troublesome number that makes Iowa State nose guard Stephen Ruempolhamer shake his head.

“Eleven sacks,” he said. “That's pretty bad.”

That was the Cyclones’ total number of quarterback takedowns last season.

That ranked 116th in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.

And that - being tied with Western Kentucky, and better than only Eastern Michigan, New Mexico State and Minnesota - simply won't do.

“No,” said Ruempolhamer, who recorded 2.5 of those sacks while playing almost every down in 2010. “It will not be the case this year. We watched film in the offseason and saw what we did wrong.”

Mainly, Ruempolhamer and other leaders up front detected spotty execution.

The mind was often willing, but the body didn't necessarily follow through.

“I think technique held us back,” said the Netherlands-born, 6-3, 298-pound senior. “Technique, power; I'm a power guy, a power rusher, but I wasn't as strong as I am right now.”

Strength serves as a foundation.

Repetitions - and enough rest to avoid excessive fatigue - provide the springboard past mammoth offensive linemen and into the quarterback's ear.

“It just takes time to learn how to play football,” said ISU defensive coordinator Wally Burnham. “And up front you're taking on big, humpongous offensive linemen - 300 pound-plus type guys. It just take a while to refine those guys and get them to understand all the blocking schemes they're going to face and what they do to counter those kinds of things. It's a process and you're getting your brains beat out every snap.”

Help is on the way.

Cyclone Coach Paul Rhoads said depth is building on his team's defensive front.

“I think we're going to be able to put six, eight, maybe even 10 guys out there in a rotation and if you can stay fresh with our defensive line, you've got a chance to have success,” Rhoads said.

Ruempolhamer's one of the defensive leaders. Speedy defensive end Jacob Lattimer shined at times in the pass rush (four sacks).

Tackle Jake McDonough is keenly aware of the 11-sack stat, too.

“Like (Ruempolhamer) said, we have a chip on our shoulder,” said McDonough, a 6-5, 302-pounder who recorded one sack last season. “We need to go out there and show - not just the people out there, but ourselves - that we can compete and put up some stats.”

The Cyclones have ranked 88th or lower in sacks for the past four seasons.

They went sackless in the final two games of 2010 - losses to Colorado and Missouri - but it's that No. 11 that continues to stand out and rev Ruempolhamer up.

“It's definitely a motivational tool,” said Ruempolhamer, who has started or played in all but three games in his ISU career. “I was personally upset when I saw that and I took it upon myself to say, ‘We have to do better than that as a front.’ Me, personally, and the whole D-line.”

DEFENSE LINE

Projected starters: NG - Stephen Ruempolhamer; DT - Jake McDonough; RE - Jacob Lattimer; LE - Roosevelt Maggitt or Patrick Neal

Backups: NG - Walter Woods III and Brandon Jensen; DT - Cleyon Lang and Willie Scott; LE - Rony Nelson; RE - Nick Kron

Cyclones need ...: More take-aways. Defensive coordinator Wally Burnham shoots for three per game, ISU forced average of 1.9 in 2010.