Returning starters a mixed bag for Iowa State

Iowa State will have seven returning starters on defense when it opens the season against North Dakota State on Thursday night.

Some would say that's not necessarily a positive.

Yes, that means they have a lot of experience. But that's seven starters from a defense that was absolutely woeful. Opponents generally ran on the Cyclones when they wanted, completed passes at a dizzying rate and lit up scoreboards with points.

New coach Paul Rhoads faced a major challenge in revamping that unit and he feels he's making progress. Linebacker Derec Schmidgall and nose guard Nate Frere say they can see it, too, and so can quarterback Austen Arnaud, who has seen enough defenses on the field and on film to know a thing or two about that side of the ball.

“For the most part, they've been doing pretty well,” Arnaud said. “We had one scrimmage where we actually gave it to the defense pretty well. But otherwise, the defense has been doing a great job this whole preseason and back in the spring.”

In early August, Rhoads said the Cyclones wouldn't get anywhere on defense if they didn't improve their tackling. A month later, he thinks he can say with confidence that it's better.

“I didn't say we're tackling good,” he quickly added. “I said we're tackling better. The fact we are tackling better gives us a chance to play better team defense. You've got to get your opponent on the ground whether you do it individually or you do it with swarming, pursuing team defense.”

The Cyclones missed a ton of tackles last fall, enabling opponents to turn what should have been a loss or a short gain into a play that went 8 or 10 yards - or more.

“During camp, we worked on tackling every day,” Frere said. “It's something that we need to improve on. It's something we have improved on.”

Better tackling certainly would be a start. Iowa State gave up 453 yards and 35.8 points a game in 2008, a major reason it went 2-10. Two opponents rang up more than 50 points. Another scored 49.

New defensive coordinator Wally Burnham brought an aggressive, attacking style from South Florida to try to plug leaks.

“Playing in this league, you've got to come after guys,” Schmidgall said.

One guy in particular they have to get after is the quarterback. Iowa State finished 117th out of 119 major-college teams in pass efficiency defense last season and allowed opponents to complete 67.4 percent of their passes. Much of that came from quarterbacks having too much time to throw.

“Getting pressure with four-man pressure is the big part,” Schmidgall said. “And then when we bring five, bring six, we've got to get there. We've got to get home and we've got to get sacks.”

Frere, a 6-foot-1, 291-pound senior, insists the pass rush from the line will be much better.

“I think our ability to stop the pass is going to be a lot better,” he said. “I think this defense has improved in every aspect that we could improve on.

“We're better, but we're not all the way there yet.”

Iowa State will have seven returning starters on defense when it opens the season against North Dakota State on Thursday night.

Some would say that's not necessarily a positive.

Yes, that means they have a lot of experience. But that's seven starters from a defense that was absolutely woeful. Opponents generally ran on the Cyclones when they wanted, completed passes at a dizzying rate and lit up scoreboards with points.

New coach Paul Rhoads faced a major challenge in revamping that unit and he feels he's making progress. Linebacker Derec Schmidgall and nose guard Nate Frere say they can see it, too, and so can quarterback Austen Arnaud, who has seen enough defenses on the field and on film to know a thing or two about that side of the ball.

“For the most part, they've been doing pretty well,” Arnaud said. “We had one scrimmage where we actually gave it to the defense pretty well. But otherwise, the defense has been doing a great job this whole preseason and back in the spring.”

In early August, Rhoads said the Cyclones wouldn't get anywhere on defense if they didn't improve their tackling. A month later, he thinks he can say with confidence that it's better.

“I didn't say we're tackling good,” he quickly added. “I said we're tackling better. The fact we are tackling better gives us a chance to play better team defense. You've got to get your opponent on the ground whether you do it individually or you do it with swarming, pursuing team defense.”

The Cyclones missed a ton of tackles last fall, enabling opponents to turn what should have been a loss or a short gain into a play that went 8 or 10 yards - or more.

“During camp, we worked on tackling every day,” Frere said. “It's something that we need to improve on. It's something we have improved on.”

Better tackling certainly would be a start. Iowa State gave up 453 yards and 35.8 points a game in 2008, a major reason it went 2-10. Two opponents rang up more than 50 points. Another scored 49.

New defensive coordinator Wally Burnham brought an aggressive, attacking style from South Florida to try to plug leaks.

“Playing in this league, you've got to come after guys,” Schmidgall said.

One guy in particular they have to get after is the quarterback. Iowa State finished 117th out of 119 major-college teams in pass efficiency defense last season and allowed opponents to complete 67.4 percent of their passes. Much of that came from quarterbacks having too much time to throw.

“Getting pressure with four-man pressure is the big part,” Schmidgall said. “And then when we bring five, bring six, we've got to get there. We've got to get home and we've got to get sacks.”

Frere, a 6-foot-1, 291-pound senior, insists the pass rush from the line will be much better.

“I think our ability to stop the pass is going to be a lot better,” he said. “I think this defense has improved in every aspect that we could improve on.

“We're better, but we're not all the way there yet.”Iowa State will have seven returning starters on defense when it opens the season against North Dakota State on Thursday night.

Some would say that's not necessarily a positive.

Yes, that means they have a lot of experience. But that's seven starters from a defense that was absolutely woeful. Opponents generally ran on the Cyclones when they wanted, completed passes at a dizzying rate and lit up scoreboards with points.

New coach Paul Rhoads faced a major challenge in revamping that unit and he feels he's making progress. Linebacker Derec Schmidgall and nose guard Nate Frere say they can see it, too, and so can quarterback Austen Arnaud, who has seen enough defenses on the field and on film to know a thing or two about that side of the ball.

“For the most part, they've been doing pretty well,” Arnaud said. “We had one scrimmage where we actually gave it to the defense pretty well. But otherwise, the defense has been doing a great job this whole preseason and back in the spring.”

In early August, Rhoads said the Cyclones wouldn't get anywhere on defense if they didn't improve their tackling. A month later, he thinks he can say with confidence that it's better.

“I didn't say we're tackling good,” he quickly added. “I said we're tackling better. The fact we are tackling better gives us a chance to play better team defense. You've got to get your opponent on the ground whether you do it individually or you do it with swarming, pursuing team defense.”

The Cyclones missed a ton of tackles last fall, enabling opponents to turn what should have been a loss or a short gain into a play that went 8 or 10 yards - or more.

“During camp, we worked on tackling every day,” Frere said. “It's something that we need to improve on. It's something we have improved on.”

Better tackling certainly would be a start. Iowa State gave up 453 yards and 35.8 points a game in 2008, a major reason it went 2-10. Two opponents rang up more than 50 points. Another scored 49.

New defensive coordinator Wally Burnham brought an aggressive, attacking style from South Florida to try to plug leaks.

“Playing in this league, you've got to come after guys,” Schmidgall said.

One guy in particular they have to get after is the quarterback. Iowa State finished 117th out of 119 major-college teams in pass efficiency defense last season and allowed opponents to complete 67.4 percent of their passes. Much of that came from quarterbacks having too much time to throw.

“Getting pressure with four-man pressure is the big part,” Schmidgall said. “And then when we bring five, bring six, we've got to get there. We've got to get home and we've got to get sacks.”

Frere, a 6-foot-1, 291-pound senior, insists the pass rush from the line will be much better.

“I think our ability to stop the pass is going to be a lot better,” he said. “I think this defense has improved in every aspect that we could improve on.

“We're better, but we're not all the way there yet.”