For a team that committed 35 turnovers last season, four interceptions — including three in a five-play span in the second quarter — stood out in the mind of ISU coach Paul Rhoads following the final of three spring intrasquad scrimmages at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday.

“[I] was disappointed in the turnovers that took place at the end of the first half,” Rhoads said. “Other than that, I think we finished up spring ball very well.”

The top three quarterbacks on the depth chart — Jared Barnett, Steele Jantz and Sam Richardson — completed a combined 56.2 percent of their passes led by Richardson, who connected on 14 of his 24 throws. The redshirt freshman also accounted for the only offensive touchdown of the day, finding redshirt freshman wide receiver Tad Ecby on a six-yard slant in the second quarter.

Rhoads said he did not feel that the performance of the three quarterbacks was reflective of their performances throughout the spring, noting that the turnovers may have loomed large because he had not yet watched the film of the scrimmage.

“I shouldn’t let those turnovers completely influence me, but they didn’t show up like they have in probably the last four to six practices,” Rhoads said of the three quarterbacks.

While the three current signal callers struggled, a former quarterback and now redshirt senior wide receiver Jerome Tiller emerged among the Cyclones’ offensive contributors, catching three of Jantz’s six completions during his first drive as quarterback and finishing the day with five catches for 44 yards.

“I feel like he got really, really, really good at the end [of spring practices],” Barnett said. “We weren’t sure what kind of player we were going to get from JT going into the spring, but now coming out we know that he has a lot of potential and he showed it today. I feel like he’s really going to be able to help us in the fall.”

Rhoads said following the game that the 6-foot-3-inch, 204-pound Tiller doesn’t quite have the athleticism to create separation from a defensive back by himself, but the coaches will try and call routes that will help him to get separation so he can contribute on the field in the fall.

“The one thing that he’s really showed us is if he can leverage a defensive player with his long arms, his long levers, he catches the ball well enough [and] can make football plays for us,” Rhoads said.

The highly touted redshirt freshman trio of Ecby, Quenton Bundrage and Ja’Quarius Daniels combined for 12 catches and 85 yards receiving on the day. Rhoads said he expects all three to see playing time next fall.

“They had a great day today,” Richardson said of the wide receivers. “They caught pretty much every ball that was in their vicinity, so I think they made a great statement today and showed that they can really play on this team.”

Senior Josh Lenz led all 10 wide receivers who hauled in a catch Saturday with seven catches for 98 yards, including a 56-yard strike from Jantz in the second quarter that set up a 21-yard Edwin Arceo field goal.

“I think we stepped us a group,” Ecby said. “A lot of people expected it from us and I think we performed where people thought we would.”

After 15 spring practices, no decision has been made on who will be the team’s starting quarterback next fall.

Rhoads said both Barnett and Jantz are ahead of Richardson simply because of age and experience, but that “she’s a race” and that “a lot changes when you get to August.”

“When we get started in August, we’ll see who wants to perform and a timetable, I don’t know,” Rhoads said. “When I know we’ve got a [No.] 1, I’ll tell you.”

Fall camp gets underway in August with the season opener scheduled for Sept. 1 as the Cyclones will host Tulsa.