One of the biggest issues facing the ISU football team is the run game. The Cyclones have struggled on the ground this season and that was evident Sept. 27 against Baylor.

The No. 7 Bears (3-0, 1-0 Big 12) held the Cyclones (1-3, 0-2 Big 12) to 162 rushing yards, with only 35 yards in the first half. In fact, Iowa State’s running backs Aaron Wimberly and DeVondrick Nealy have less than 200 total combined yards through the first four games.

“We had great preparation going into it,” Wimberly said. “The defense came out there physical, we came out there physical, but we just left it out there. It’s real close, everyone is going out there fighting their butts off.”

The run game has been something on the coaches’ radar since fall camp, and head coach Paul Rhoads knows that it is perhaps a bigger issue now more than ever.

“It’s not the backfield,” Rhoads said. “It’s the whole combination of everything that it takes to establish a running game. It needs drastic improvement.”

Rhoads even decided to turn to Martinez SyriaCQ, removing the true freshman’s redshirt. Syria, who was a three-star recruit from Humble, Texas, carried the ball eight times for 15 yards.

“It was a great experience,” Syria said. “It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was a kid, and I finally got the chance to do it and make that dream come true.”

But will Syria be any more productive than the other running backs? Coaches and players both say that he brings a different style to the position than they have now. They think that can be very beneficial.

“He’s a bigger back and he’s more powerful,” Wimberly said. “He leans forward when he gets tackled, and that’s why he’s on the field. He’s a good back. He did great, and he’s going to learn more as the season goes on.”

Yet it wasn’t any of the backs that led the team in rushing against Baylor. Instead, it was quarterback Sam Richardson.

Richardson ran the ball 14 different times and picked up 126 rushing yards, with his biggest carry being a 47-yard touchdown run to start the second half.

Richardson, who leads the team in rushing through the first four games, became the first Cyclone to run for over 100 yards since the Texas game last October.

“Sam’s a great leader, a great quarterback,” Wimberly said. “What he reads on the field, that’s how it’s going to be. I feel he read it right, and the yards that he got he deserved.”

It seems that there is still some work to do to get production out of the running backs. Rhoads, however, is determined to find the answer to their problems.

“Yeah, we ran the ball in training camp,” Rhoads said. “Have we ran it in four games? No, not with any sustained success. We’ve obviously figured that out through five weeks and four games. I promise you, we’re searching for ways to have angles and leverage and have plays to improve on.”