The book on the ISU defense prior to this season has always been that it’s a bend-but-don’t-break, turnover-forcing squad.

But through three games, the Cyclones have only forced five opponent turnovers, while giving the ball away 10 times. Instead of over-emphasizing a focus on creating those takeaways, coach Paul Rhoads and his staff haven’t changed from their normal focus.

“[We haven’t done] anything different than we normally do,” Rhoads said. “We talk about protecting the ball, making the right decisions, catching the ball. You can over-coach the heck out of that, and it can create more of a problem than it does if you’re coaching the same things and the right things specifically.”

While Rhoads said there hasn’t been any extra attention paid to them, turnovers have clearly been a trademark in several key wins for the Cyclones (3-0) in his first two years as coach.

Flash back to Oct. 24, 2009. On that day, the Cyclones went to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the Cornhuskers. Iowa State hadn’t won at Memorial Stadium since 1977.

Eight turnovers and one desperation touchdown heave later, the Cyclones had upset Nebraska 9-7, vaulting them to an eventual Insight Bowl win against Minnesota.

A year after that, Rhoads took his team to Austin, Texas, to face then-No. 22 Texas having never beaten the perennial college football powerhouse in program history. The Cyclones forced four turnovers en route to the 28-21 victory.

“Opportunities will come; they always do,” said ISU linebacker A.J. Klein. “It’s just a matter of being in the right spot at the right time. By playing assignment football, we can increase those chances of getting those turnovers that [will] help us win the game.”

The No. 17 Longhorns (3-0) come to Ames on Saturday in a matchup of undefeated teams — something not many people predicted. Texas comes into the game having forced eight turnovers while committing five.

While Klein said assignment football would lead to turnovers and that there wasn’t any guaranteed way of forcing a turnover, he did acknowledge that there are some things defense can control.

“It’s a lot about creating, too,” Klein said. “We have to get pressure up front and force the quarterback to make bad decisions and throw the ball away. I know against Connecticut we did that. We got pressure with [defensive end Jacob] Lattimer off the edge.”

The focus of the turnover margin has been mostly on the defense’s lower number, but the Cyclone offense has given the ball away at a high rate so far this season. Players on the ISU offense know ball security will be paramount if the Cyclones hope to repeat their performance of a year ago.

“You look at the [turnovers], you identify it and you go, ‘This cannot happen anymore,'” said ISU running back Jeff Woody. “Coach [Ken] Pope has done a good job of focusing us on what we have to do. It’s more of an attention problem where if you start to let everything else get to you, you lose focus on what’s necessary.

“Taking care of the ball is the most important part of football.”