The ISU football team will wrap up its spring practices with the annual spring football game April 12 at Jack Trice Stadium.

With off-season coaching changes and new faces on the team this spring, there are plenty of questions to be answered. Here is a list of five things to watch for during the spring game.

1) Unconventional scrimmage format

While some schools play a true football game with kickoffs, touchdowns and field goals, Iowa State will be playing a much more controlled scrimmage. The format will be first teams against second teams with everybody on the roster seeing the field. Plays will start from the 30-yard line with no special teams, points will not be recorded as multiple teams and formations will be switching in and out.

2) Mistake-free football

ISU coach Paul Rhoads emphasized that executing fundamentals is the biggest part of a successful spring game. Defenders keeping players in front of them, linemen making their blocks and quarterbacks making precise passes are all things Rhoads said he needs to see happen consistently.

“There should not be a lot of mistakes from an alignment standpoint and quite honestly, there shouldn’t be a lot of mistakes from a footwork standpoint,” Rhoads said. “Everything that we’ll do on [April 12] will be rehearsed and ran, so I’m looking for consistency and doing things right from that end.”

3) New offensive scheme

New offensive coordinator Mark Mangino is heralded as one of the best offensive minds in college football and will unveil some of his schemes for the first time publicly wearing cardinal and gold. While the offense won’t be drastically different than in years past, there is a lot of buzz surrounding the unit this spring.

“As Coach Mangino says, ‘We do it all,'” said quarterback Joel Lanning. “Pistol, under-center, throwing it, running it — I don’t know what other offense there is, but we do it all.”

4) Developing defense

The defense has been hit hard by injury, suspension and graduation this spring and has resulted in many inexperienced players stepping up.

The linebackers will be operating without graduating All-Big 12 linebacker Jeremiah George and an injured Luke Knott this spring, but Rhoads said the group has seen great work out of younger players. Rhoads was reluctant to say the group has depth but said “they have numbers” and will see a lot of rotation during the spring game.

The defensive line is perhaps the most depleted unit on the field with David Irving out with a shoulder injury and Rodney Coe no longer with the team. Defensive tackle coach Shane Burnham said the spring game will be successful if the unit shows more consistency battling against an experienced offensive line.

5) Quarterback competition

For the third time in four seasons, the Cyclones have an open competition at the quarterback position in the spring. With starting quarterback Sam Richardson injured, Grant Rohach stepped in as starting quarterback for last stretch of the season, finishing the season on a two-game win streak.

Richardson is back to full health and both he and Rohach have put on about 15 pounds each. Lanning, a redshirt freshman, has also stepped up and is competing for the starting spot. Mangino does not have a timeline for making a decision but hopes the spring game will help narrow the competition down.

“I’ll have a clearer picture of what direction we’re going to go in at that position,” Mangino said. “Pretty soon, I don’t know when that will be, we will be focusing in on two guys working instead of three.”