Interesting Defensive Stat...

[cyfan15]

We have not scored much for three years or more. Time to light it up. We score like we play in the SEC or Big Ten.

A lot of that falls on Chizik's recruiting. Rhoads' first full recruiting class are redshirt freshmen now. We're starting to see some of those guys get on the field and make an impact now, which is a positive sign for the future. Rarely is Iowa State able to recruit a bunch of players who can come in and play in the Big 12 right away, so it takes 2-3 years of development.

Here are the offensive skill position players that committed to Chizik: Wallace Franklin, Jerome Tiller, Jeremiah Schwartz, Bo Williams, Jason Carlson, Sedrick Johnson, Lonzie Range, Darius Darks, Beau Blankenship, James White, Josh Lenz.

The last two on that list are by far the best. Franklin and Carlson were JUCOs who didn't do much. Range suffered some significant injuries. Schwartz, Johnson, and Blankenship are playing at lower level schools now. Williams couldn't run and think at the same time. Tiller is academically ineligible and will probably switch to WR next year. Darks has started a lot of games, so that's something at least.

Chizik's staff did a decent job recruiting offensive linemen, but they were mostly for a power running SEC/Big Ten offense rather than the spread. Our offense is still in transition mode as we wait for Rhoads' recruits to take over.

[bosco]

Our offense is still in transition mode as we wait for Rhoads' recruits to take over.

I think CPR's recruits are already taking over.

list of the 2010 class making significant contributions this year.

Barnett QB
S. Johnson RB
Dika OL
Farniok OL
Gannon OL
Gary WR
George LB
Givens DB
Hollis RB
Van Der Kamp P
West WR
Young WR
Nelson DL
Morgan LB
Jensen DL

[cyfan15]

I think CPR's recruits are already taking over.

list of the 2010 class making significant contributions this year.

Barnett QB
S. Johnson RB
Dika OL
Farniok OL
Gannon OL
Gary WR
George LB
Givens DB
Hollis RB
Van Der Kamp P
West WR
Young WR
Nelson DL
Morgan LB
Jensen DL

Just wait until those guys are juniors and seniors.

[cyclones500]

Scanned the list quickly. Several categories that were surprisingly good/encouraging (or ones I didn't think about), some rankings that seem obvious.

I'll comment in-depth, probably, once I delve further. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to that.

[cyclones500]

My quick run-through. Honestly, there are 57,000 ways to interpret all of this. I'll just touch on some I noticed, and leave further analysis to everyone else.

Scoring offense vs. Scoring defense
If I’m not mistaken, this is the biggest gap for ISU in the Rhoads era so far — a minus-10. Hard to believe a 31.3 ppg avg. would ranked 5th. The Big 12 has become the then-Pac-10.

ISU’s average for points given up is 31.3 — which is lower than points Cyclones allowed vs. average scoring offense of A&M (38.3/33). ISU also held Tech 20 points below its average (27.6/7) and Kansas 10 below (20.0/10)

Total defense: 4th. Not bad!

Kickoff returns (3rd): I wonder if ISU has ever been this high in conference play.

Punting: worse than I expected. I thought Kirby looked really good early in the season (same thing with a lot of special teams categories). Punting seems to have slipped badly.

Pass efficiency: 10th — no surprise there.

Opponent first downs: 3rd. Not too shabby

Opp third-down conversions: 3rd. Encouraging.

PATs: Still last — and somehow I thought this season was miles above typical XP debacle seasons — that shows how horrible other seasons have been.

Time of possession. 4th. That’s above what I expected, considering it seems like there were tons of 3-and-outs during most games.

Red zone offense: 9th. I thought this might have been slightly better.

Red zone defense: 4th. I’ll take it.

Third down conversions: 9th. If you want THE big reason ISU’s offense is so unproductive, this has got to rank as one of the biggest problems.

Turnover margin: Tied for 7th. Only a minus-3, but it would be a huge boost to be even a plus-3 (which would put ISU 3rd). Offense has been inconsistent, stats suggest defense can hold its own. But turnover discrepancy could easily re-balance the scales between those two.

Opponent 1st downs: 3rd. Not sure whether this one means much. It could mean opponents score quickly on short drives, or have a lot of big plays.

Kickoff coverage: 2nd. A stat few people notice, unless a team is horrible at it. Encouraging.

[Stormin]

We have not scored much for three years or more. Time to light it up. We score like we play in the SEC or Big Ten.

It has been much longer than that IIRC.

[ajk4st8]

My quick run-through. Honestly, there are 57,000 ways to interpret all of this. I'll just touch on some I noticed, and leave further analysis to everyone else.

Scoring offense vs. Scoring defense
If I’m not mistaken, this is the biggest gap for ISU in the Rhoads era so far — a minus-10. Hard to believe a 31.3 ppg avg. would ranked 5th. The Big 12 has become the then-Pac-10.

ISU’s average for points given up is 31.3 — which is lower than points Cyclones allowed vs. average scoring offense of A&M (38.3/33). ISU also held Tech 20 points below its average (27.6/7) and Kansas 10 below (20.0/10)

Total defense: 4th. Not bad!

Kickoff returns (3rd): I wonder if ISU has ever been this high in conference play.

Punting: worse than I expected. I thought Kirby looked really good early in the season (same thing with a lot of special teams categories). Punting seems to have slipped badly.

Pass efficiency: 10th — no surprise there.

Opponent first downs: 3rd. Not too shabby

Opp third-down conversions: 3rd. Encouraging.

PATs: Still last — and somehow I thought this season was miles above typical XP debacle seasons — that shows how horrible other seasons have been.

Time of possession. 4th. That’s above what I expected, considering it seems like there were tons of 3-and-outs during most games.

Red zone offense: 9th. I thought this might have been slightly better.

Red zone defense: 4th. I’ll take it.

Third down conversions: 9th. If you want THE big reason ISU’s offense is so unproductive, this has got to rank as one of the biggest problems.

Turnover margin: Tied for 7th. Only a minus-3, but it would be a huge boost to be even a plus-3 (which would put ISU 3rd). Offense has been inconsistent, stats suggest defense can hold its own. But turnover discrepancy could easily re-balance the scales between those two.

Opponent 1st downs: 3rd. Not sure whether this one means much. It could mean opponents score quickly on short drives, or have a lot of big plays.

Kickoff coverage: 2nd. A stat few people notice, unless a team is horrible at it. Encouraging.

Those stats are very encouraging. I cant wait to compare to how our rankings hold up after playing teams #1-#2-#3 in the Big 12.