Offensive Starters Returning: QB Chase Daniel, RB Tony Temple, WR Tommy Saunders, WR William Franklin, TE Martin Rucker, OL Tyler Luellen, OL Ryan Madison, OL Adam Spieker

Defensive Starters Lost: DE Xzavie Jackson, DE Brian Smith, LB Marcus Bacon, LB Dedrick Harrington, S Brandon Massey, S David Overstreet

Defensive Starters Returning: DT Lorenzo Williams, DT Ziggy Hood, LB Brock Christopher, CB Darnell Terrell, CB Hardy Ricks

Starting Specialists Lost: none

Starting Specialists Returning: K Jeff Wolfert, P Adam Crossett

Iowa State fell apart at the end of the 2006 campaign, losing four of their last five games. However, spirits are still high in Columbia. The Cyclones return just about every piece of their offense that averaged over 425 yards per game. Of course the defense and special teams have a few issues to address, but the offense alone is enough to win the Big 12 North.

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2007 Iowa State Offense:

Bret Meyer returns to lead the team after completing 56.4 percent of his passes for 2,546 yards. Meyer, now a senior, had a disappointing 2006 campaign, but much of that can be blamed on the players around him as well. Meyer needs to find his earlier form if Iowa State wants to improve on their 4-8 record. The return of Todd Blythe will help the passing game. Eight of the team’s 12 passing touchdowns were caught by Blythe and the 6-5 senior is a great target in the red zone. Veterans R.J. Sumrall and Milan Moses will look to become more involved in the passing game and continue to develop their kick return skills.

Junior college transfer J.J. Bass may show up on campus and quickly take over the starting running back job. However, Jason Scales and Jason Harris will have something to say about that. Scales has had a difficult career at Iowa State battling constant injuries. When healthy, he is a big, tough back who will be valuable on short yardage situations. Harris, who started part of last year at safety, has been moved back to the offensive side of the ball. Harris rushed for 40 yards on 11 carries as a freshman and adds some much needed speed to the backfield. Even if the backs can develop into solid rushers, the questions on the line may keep the running attack stagnant. Tom Schmeling is the lone returning starter and the Cyclones hope a few junior college transfers can step in immediately.

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2007 Iowa State Defense:

There were a multitude of problems with the defense last year. Inexperience and injuries are the two that could be fixed this season. Bringing in Coach Chizik should immediately shave a few points off the bottom line, but more will have to be done for this unit to be where Iowa State wants it to be. The line lost All-Big 12 tackle Brent Curvey and the team’s all-time sack leader Shawn Moorehead. Athyba Rubin, at 6-3 and 321 pounds, will anchor the front line, but the unit will need help from Bryce Braaksma and some junior college transfers to make the line respectable. End Rashawn Parker showed promise as a freshman and Kurtis Taylor was penciled in for a starting position last year before going down with a season ending injury.

Alvin Bowen tallied a nation high 12.92 tackles per game. Hopefully he will get a little more help this year, but Bowen is a superb talent who will anchor the linebackers. Jon Banks moved from free safety to outside linebacker last year after Adam Carper went down with an injury. Both are back and will add some depth to the unit. The secondary is slowly becoming more experienced, but the safeties Caleb Berg and James Smith need to perform much better. Chris Singleton is a talented corner, but has yet to play up to his potential and the other side of the field will have sophomore Drenard Williams or junior college transfer Allen Bell.

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The Bottom Line for the 2007 Cyclones:

The junior college transfers will need to pan out, especially on the lines, if Iowa State wants to improve on their 4-8 record. The offense has more talent than 18.8 points per game, but they did last year too and it did not do much good. Coach Chizik will not let the defense be so bad and, if they stay healthy, the defense should be vastly improved.

by Joel Welser