David Irving didn’t surprise just the Iowa offense Saturday; he surprised himself.

The ISU junior defensive linemen blew through the Hawkeyes’ offensive line in the Cyclones’ loss on the first offensive play by the Hawkeyes. Iowa quarterback Jake Rudock had time for a two-step drop, but that was about it as his pass went to the ground.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting that myself,” Irving said of his hit against Rudock. “It was a confidence booster with the crowd and everything. It was a pretty good feeling.”

Irving moved from defensive end to defensive tackle less than one month ago and has been making as smooth of a transition as he can. Against Iowa, Irving finished with five tackles, one sack, a pass break-up and a forced fumble.

ISU coach Paul Rhoads saw Irving’s game against the Hawkeyes as a moment when the light came on for him. Rhoads said he saw flashes of the ability to make plays last year, but the focus has always been to do it consistently.

“He started out [Tuesday’s] practice, [defensive end] Cory Morrissey made a play on a ball and batted it, and David intercepted it and ended up in the end zone. Sometimes those things snowball like that,” Rhoads said of Irving. “He had sacks as a freshman, he had the touchdown last year against [Texas Christian University], but he’s never done it consistently like he did Saturday night against Iowa.”

ISU defensive coordinator Wally Burnham doesn’t believe the switch Irving made from defensive end to defensive tackle was a very uncommon one; not for someone with the athleticism Irving possesses at least.

Irving stands at 6 feet 7 inches and weighs roughly 272 pounds, which is 15 pounds lighter than he was last season at defensive end, a weight he would like to get back to, he said. 

But Burnham has seen a light of sorts come on after Irving’s switch as well, with more effort being put forth as well as a desire to get better.

“That’s all it comes down to. You’ve got to want to be good,” Burnham said of Irving’s progress. “You’ve got to want to practice good, you’ve got to want to play good, you’ve want to go out and get your technique down. And if you don’t want to do those things, it’s not going to happen. He’s been coached hard, and he’s responded.”

After almost a month of playing solely at defensive tackle, Irving feels he is finally getting more comfortable. Of course he still wants to get better at his technique, shooting his hands and lowering his pads, but he is seeing the fruits of his labor.

Irving feels like he might even be happier at defensive tackle because as opposed to at defensive end, most plays by the opposing offense will be within his reach. With that will come the chance for him to be the guy to make stops for Iowa State.

“I feel like instead of playing faster, I played with better technique. I actually lowered my pads,” Irving said of his improvement since the move. “It just takes awhile to actually get used to playing that low.

“When I played that low and take the coaching, I feel like I get more opportunities.”