The Cyclones’ first scrimmage of the fall ended Saturday with both coaches and players drenched in sweat.

Afterward, it was the play of the defense and the team’s effort that stood out to the coaches. However, there were still some concerns with the team’s performance.

“Effort would be the first thing that stood out, and then not being smart overall stood out secondly,” said coach Paul Rhoads.

Rhoads said the offense turned the ball over “more than we should,” and also committed some penalties.

The ISU defense forced those turnovers, however, and the unit that returns just five starters seemed to garner the most praise.

“Defensively we had a good day today,” said senior defensive end Rashawn Parker. “We just kept pushing and made some plays out there.”

Parker, who is coming off of a season-ending knee injury in 2009, will be expected to lead the young defense. Parker said, aside from some fatigue, he has no hesitation in playing at full speed on his surgically repaired knee.

“We had a lot of guys out there making plays today,” Parker said.

The Cyclones will feature a young linebacking corps that combined for just 41 tackles all of last season. Three new starters will need to be found on the defensive line to play alongside Parker, as well.

In the secondary, two starters return in Leonard Johnson and David Sims, while the other two projected to start saw significant playing time last season.

“We’re still improving,” said defensive coordinator Wally Burnham. “That’s our goal, everyday just get a little bit better, and I thought the effort was great.”

The offense struggled with mistakes.

Both Rhoads and offensive coordinator Tom Herman expressed concern with the high number of dropped balls from the wide receivers.

“That was something that we’d been bitten with throughout camp, but everybody had the bug today,” Herman said. “And, along with offensive penalties, dropped passes put you at second-and-10 and third-and-long. We’re not good enough to overcome that.”

However, despite the drops, penalties and turnovers from the offense, Herman was mindful this was still just the first scrimmage of fall camp.

Herman said that the offense has a better grasp on the scheme than at this point last season.

“Scrimmage one last year to scrimmage one this year, I think there’s a much greater understanding of the game,” Herman said. “I think as a group we understand what we want to get accomplished and the tempo that we want to play at, but the sloppiness needs to improve for us to be successful.”

— The first thing Rhoads addressed with reporters Saturday was the health of the team after 13 practices.

The coach said, despite the length of the scrimmage, his team suffered no major injuries on the field.

“I’m happy because we had no serious injuries whatsoever,” Rhoads said. “Anytime you can go as many snaps as we did and you come out of that healthy … I’m pleased.”

Rhoads did say, however, that backup quarterback Jerome Tiller “tweaked” a knee, but he expects the sophomore to be ready for practice Monday.

— The battle to be the No. 2 running back behind senior Alexander Robinson heated up Saturday.

Entering the scrimmage, redshirt freshman Jeff Woody was listed as Robinson’s backup, but Herman said there is now “serious competition” for that spot.

Herman said the two true freshman at the position — Shontrelle Johnson and Duran Hollis — as well as another redshirt freshman James White all performed well.

“I think they all bring something a little different to the table,” Herman said. “The No. 2 guy will be the guy we trust the most to put on the field and trust in assignment and productivity.”