Just four weeks into the Cyclones’ season, ISU coach Gene Chizik is looking to make changes.

Chizik, whose Cyclones lost 36-35 in Toledo on Saturday, watched as his special teams made two fourth-quarter errors allowing the Rockets to rally from an 11-point deficit. Now, the first-year coach said he might be watching new people when the Cyclones travel to Nebraska on Saturday.

“We’re going to go back and re-evaluate some personnel this week because the bottom line is we can’t lose another game with a special teams meltdown,” Chizik said at his weekly press conference Monday. “So we’re going to be paying a lot of attention to that this week.”

The meltdown began with 5:08 remaining in the fourth quarter when ISU punter Mike Brandtner had trouble handling a snap from Matt Purvis. Toledo linebacker Greg Hay recovered the fumble for a touchdown. The finishing touches came in Iowa State’s final possession of the game when kicker Bret Culbertson’s field goal attempt was blocked by Hay.

“It just wasn’t very good protection, and we let a guy squirt through there,” Chizik said. “That was a point in the game where your best is needed, and obviously we didn’t deliver.”

Chizik said he is now looking for others who will deliver, a situation the first-year coach has already found himself in this season.

Earlier in the season, Chizik watched as Culbertson opened the season missing his first three field goal attempts. After announcing he might look for other options in the future, the senior kicker responded with five field goals, including a 28-yarder with 1 second remaining to defeat the Hawkeyes.

When ISU special teams earned minus 5 yards on punt returns through the Cyclones’ first two games, Chizik set up sophomore Drenard Williams to return kicks. In the next two games, ISU punt returners combined for 29 yards returning.

“You put your finger in one hole in the dam and then all of a sudden another one, you put your finger in another one to stop that,” he said.

Chizik said some of the problems have risen from the defense as well.

Whatever the problem is, players are hoping to fix it.

“I think we’re just going to try to put a finger on that hole and hopefully the other ones we’ll patch up this week too,” said defensive back and punt returner Allen Bell.

Bell said he also hopes to improve on the Cyclones’ turnover rate. Iowa State, which has forced just four turnovers this season, has yet to score off one this season. Opponents, however, have scored 37 points on 11 Cyclone turnovers this season.

“It’s frustrating because we want to help contribute to the game with points,” he said. “We want to try to get the takeaway and maybe score on defense and help with production on offense.”

Bell said it’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time, as Cyclone defenders have spent time in practice working on stripping the ball from opponents as well as looking for interception opportunities.

“Our margin of error is very slim,” Chizik said. “When we have error on offense, defense or special teams, it can cause us to lose games, and that’s what happened Saturday night.”