True freshman quarterback Jerome Tiller’s weekend flight plans had to change Thursday, after former backup Phillip Bates left the ISU football team.

Tiller was planning on returning to see his parents San Antonio, Texas, but instead joined up with the Cyclones in Waco.

“We gave our redshirts this last weekend to go home, and [Tiller] had a plane ticket, and he was ready to go home,” coach Gene Chizik said. “Plans got changed.”

Tiller’s career path was also changed by Bates’ departure, as he is now cramming to prepare to be Iowa State’s backup for the rest of the season. The Cyclones (2-4, 0-2 Big 12) are halfway done with their season’s schedule, and coaches said they still hope to redshirt the widely-recruited dual-threat quarterback.

But a significant injury to starter Austen Arnaud would force Tiller into Big 12 competition, which he said he is OK with.

“I’m ready to play if I have to play,” Tiller said. “If not, I’ll wait ‘til next year. Whatever is best for the team, to tell you the truth. If they have to pull the redshirt, they can pull it; but other than that, I’d like to hold on to it. If they want to throw me on the field, I’ll go on the field, and I’ll step up for the team.”

Tiller has played on the scout team this season, but his promotion prompted glowing reviews from teammates. Offensive lineman Doug Dedrick said Tiller has “an absolute cannon” for an arm, saying Tiller set a personal best with a 73-yard throw at practice.

Arnaud jokingly complemented his understudy, who has been speculated to challenge the starting job next season.

“Jerome’s always showing off that big gun he’s got,” Arnaud said. “I know I can’t throw as far as him, so I don’t try.”

Arnaud said Tiller is nicknamed “Mariano Rivera,” after the New York Yankees pitcher.

“He said he’s never played baseball before, and I couldn’t believe it,” Arnaud said. “He’d have been a phenomenal closer.”

Tiller turned 20 years old last Tuesday, and said he is learning the offense “play by play,” instead of in larger chunks. Chizik said the coaching staff will give him a condensed play book in order to “try to perfect a few things.”

“At this point in the season, it’s tough, because we’ve got to give him small parts of the playbook,” Chizik said. “We have to take baby steps with him.”

Measurements updated by the athletics department this week list the Tiller as being 6-foot-4, 179 pounds, which is an indication of his long-strided running ability, as well as his slight frame.

Tiller’s legs carried him to 24 rushing touchdowns and more than 1,200 yards during his junior and senior year seasons at Lee High School in San Antonio, which has a 5A football program in one of the state’s toughest districts. Scout.com reported Tiller to have run a 4.5 second 40-yard dash coming out of high school.

Tiller lettered in basketball and track for three years, but was heavily recruited in football, choosing the Cyclones over offers from Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Purdue, Stanford and Texas A&M.

He verbally committed to Iowa State in August 2007 — before he took a campus visit to Ames, but after a hard sell from Chizik.

According to a San Antonio Express news article, Tiller said Chizik told him that “he saw a lot of the same things he saw in Vince Young — except that I’m not 6-5, 230.”

He told the Daily he chose Iowa State because it offered a chance to play early on in his career.

“A lot of what he’s been doing is scout-team work. So what we’ve seen of him in practice was during two-a-days,” Chizik said.

“We see a talented guy that’s got a lot of promise and a great future, and a guy who’s willing to do what we ask him to do.”

— Daily Staff Writer Corey Aldritt contributed to this article