Todd Blythe is now an ISU football fan, and the wide receiver likes what he sees for his former team.

“Another year with these coaches – and another year in this system – is going to be nothing but great things for these guys,” Blythe said.

That next year will see the team without Blythe and quarterback Bret Meyer. The duo wrapped up their Cyclone careers with a 45-7 loss to Kansas on Nov. 17. Even though neither player will take the field next season, both of their names will be in the ISU media guide for records they set.

Blythe, a senior from Indianola, ended his ISU career with a school-record 176 catches, 3,096 yards and 31 touchdowns.

Meyer, a senior from Atlantic, finished his career with 10,422 yards of total offense and 9,499 passing yards. Both are school records.

Meyer had difficulty describing how he felt about concluding his career.

“It kind of takes time to sit back and soak everything in before you can really say how you feel,” Meyer said.

What he can soak in is three Cyclone wins during coach Gene Chizik’s inaugural season. Iowa State, which finished with a 3-9 record, ended its home season with back-to-back wins against Big 12 foes Kansas State and Colorado.

Following their 31-20 victory against the Wildcats on Nov. 3, the Cyclones closed out their regular season at Jack Trice Stadium with a 31-28 victory over the Buffaloes on Nov. 10. After trailing by 21 at halftime, Iowa State rallied, tying its best-ever comeback by holding off a late Colorado scoring drive in the fourth quarter.

“I think we’ve come a ways,” Chizik said. “Obviously, it’s not near where we would have liked to have been, but I think there are some positive things we can build on for next year.”

Some of those building blocks include:

Three running backs who have rushed for 100-yard games will return next season. Leading the three was junior college transfer J.J. Bass, who rushed for a team-high 462 yards on 123 carries. Bass, who spent part of the season nursing an injured shoulder, shared running duties with junior Jason Scales and redshirt freshman Alexander Robinson. Scales rushed for 333 yards and three touchdowns and Robinson ran for 411 yards on only 98 carries.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Austen Arnaud. Arnaud, who spent the season behind Meyer, completed 12 of 22 passes for 188 yards during the season. As backup quarterback, he led the Cyclones on a pair of scoring drives in their 31-20 victory against Kansas State.

An experienced defense that includes junior Chris Singleton. Singleton led all Cyclone defenders with four interceptions. Sophomore free safety James Smith also returns after finishing the season with 76 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Jesse Smith added 70 tackles and expects more next season.

“We’ve just got to take that extra step up to play in the Big 12,” Smith said. “We were coached well enough – we just didn’t execute it.”

It’s how they followed up after failing to execute that impressed Chizik. After a 15-13 victory against Iowa on Sept. 15, the Cyclones went into a six-game skid, including a 56-3 loss to Texas on Oct. 13.

They followed up on that performance a week later by shutting out No. 4 Oklahoma during the first half before falling, 17-7.

“I just think they’ve been through a lot in a year,” Chizik said. “I thought that they bounced back in a lot of ways, and to do it for 12 straight weeks without any breaks.”

Wherever Blythe watches the Cyclones from, he said he’s excited about next year’s team.

“I see nothing but good things, really,” Blythe said. “I talked with the coaches and said, ‘Get these boys right’ – and I think they will.”