ISU junior excited about what spread can do for Cyclones

AMES - The call came during dinner at The Cafe, one of the finest restaurants in town.

Coach Paul Rhoads was on the other end. He'd hired an offensive coordinator and wanted to give his star quarterback - the face of the franchise - the lowdown on his guy.

It didn't take long for Austen Arnaud to figure out he was going to have lots of fun at the helm of Tom Herman's no-huddle, spread offense. Minutes, in fact.

Arnaud hung up and used his cell phone to get online and look up Herman's background, most recently the brainchild of a record-setting attack at Rice University.

Fast forward almost eight months, with Iowa State four days away from raising the curtain on its exciting new offense, and Arnaud is as convinced as ever the right person and the right style is in place.

“This is what I was hoping for,” Arnaud said. “I'm so thankful Coach Herman is here and Coach Rhoads, obviously, who hired him. ... It's a quarterback-friendly offense. We have a lot of guys who can make plays. I'm so excited.”

The Cyclones host North Dakota State at 7 p.m. Thursday in Jack Trice Stadium.

It has taken time and patience, but Arnaud said his teammates finally have the offense down pat. They are ready to put it into action against someone other than themselves.

“We're very anxious,” he said. “This is what we've worked toward since the coaches got here. We've had probably 30 to 40 practices under our belt now. Our comfort level with each other is awesome. The light bulb has come on in a lot of guys' heads.”

It's not that ISU's offense was that bad in 2008, despite a 2-10 record. The Cyclones finished with the seventh-most points in school history (304) and averaged 386.8 yards a game.

Keeping pace with the high-powered offenses in the Big 12 Conference and creating a scheme that is unique and challenging was the driving force in hiring Herman.

Rhoads, a longtime defensive coordinator, knows how difficult it is to defend.

“You are limited in your calls,” Rhoads said. “Sooner or later that offense is going to take advantage of that. That's the No. 1 thing a no-huddle, spread attack gives you.”

Now that the players have been drilled on it repeatedly, the next 12 weeks will come down to execution.

“For the most part we have it memorized,” Arnaud said. “A lot of things will come with reads and how the defense is going to play us. Then it comes down to intelligence and being able to adjust on the move.”

Backup quarterback Jerome Tiller is a gifted athlete who could see some time, depending on the situation.

The red-shirt freshman had a great showing in April's spring game and was one of the team's most improved players, Rhoads said. But Arnaud is the clear No. 1, with still plenty of room to improve on his 2,792 yards, 15 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and 61.6 completion percentage from a season ago.

“I had a pretty productive year last year throwing the ball,” Arnaud said, “but once we got to the red zone, we didn't get as many touchdowns as I wanted or the team needed. This year will be different. We'll be better in the red zone and scoring touchdowns through the air.”

By Eric Petersen