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2009 Iowa State NCAA Football Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd

ISU 72309 Iowa State enters the 2009 season having lost 10 straight games and its road woes date back much further. In fact, the Cyclones have lost 17 straight road contests dating back to October of 2005. Paul Rhoads takes over the reigns as the new head man in Ames this season with a great opportunity to improve on last year’s 2-10 mark thanks to a new spread attack and a somewhat favorable schedule. Iowa State is listed at +9,000 to win the 2009 Big 12 title at BetUS.

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Offense – The best offensive teams in the Big 12 Conference run the spread and that is the direction the Cyclones will go exclusively in this season with the hire of offensive coordinator Tom Herman, who engineered Rice’s high-powered offense the past two seasons. Iowa State’s offense was respectable in 2008 when it averaged 25.3 points per game (59th nationally) and 386.8 yards per game (44th nationally). Led by quarterback Austen Arnaud, the Clones averaged 248.4 yards per game through the air to rank 31st in the country. The new look offense should help Iowa State best those numbers this fall. Arnaud passed for 2,792 yards and 15 touchdowns in his sophomore season and is only going to get better. His main targets will be Sedrick Johnson, Marquis Hamilton, and Darius Darks. Darks is the team’s top returning receiver, hauling in 49 passes for nearly 500 yards last season. The spread should open up more running room for tailback Alexander Robinson as well. Robinson impressed the coaching staff a year ago when he rushed for 703 yards and six scores. There will be no shortage of excitement when the Cyclone “O” is on the field in 2009.

Defense – This is the side of the football that has thrown the Clones into the Big 12 basement. Iowa State allowed 35.8 points per game last season (110th nationally) and 452.8 yards per game (112th nationally). The Cyclones were absolutely torched by the pass, giving up 276.7 yards per game through the air to rank 116th out of 119 FBS teams in 2008. Huge improvements are needed if Iowa State hopes to contend for a Big 12 North title anytime soon. It all starts up front with the front four getting penetration. Defensive coordinator Wally Burnham is expected to call on ends Rashawn Parker and Christopher Lyle and tackles Austin Alburtis and Nate Frere to get the job done. Lyle showed potential last season when he racked up five QB sacks. The linebacker spot is in good hands with senior team captain Jesse Smith. The linebacker unit hopes to get a boost from highly touted juco transfer Matt Taufoou, who picked ISU over the Volunteers. The secondary might be halfway decent if the guys up front would give it a chance. Free safety James Smith is a three-year starter and is the team’s top returning tackler, coming away with 85 stops in 2008. Cornerback Leonard Johnson looks to be the closest thing the Clones have to a lock down cover guy. Also, there are high hopes for David Sims at the strong safety spot. The former Oklahoma signee has the talent to be a good one.

Prediction: 6th Big 12 North – The offense should be even better than it was last year, but the defense will continue to hold the Cyclones back. Still, I don’t expect the Clones to get skunked in Big 12 play again this season and winning five games is not an unrealistic goal. Iowa State is listed at +2,500 to win the Big 12 North Division.

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