He’s watched and now ISU running backs coach Jay Boulware is waiting to see the Alexander Robinson of old. Boulware, who was impressed with the redshirt freshman running back’s play during the summer, is waiting for the Robinson from two-a-days to come back to form.

“He did a great job this summer and we were looking for him to possibly be the starting tailback,” Boulware said. “But so far he hasn’t showed up and J.J. [Bass] has.”

So it has been Bass getting the majority of the carries. The junior college transfer from El-Camino Community College has rushed for 261 yards and two touchdowns on 62 carries this season. Robinson, who opened the season as the starting tailback, has seen a steady decline in carries. Through the Cyclone’s first three games, he’s rushed for only 77 yards on 17 carries.

As Bass has gotten more chances, the junior said he’s felt better on the field.

“I’m just getting more comfortable,” Bass said. “I’m in my comfort zone. I’m just going to continue to work hard and I’m not going to rest on my morals.”

While Bass is getting the majority of the work load now, ISU coach Gene Chizik said that could change anytime.

“Alex [Robinson] has done some good things and J.J. has done some good things,” Chizik said. “We just want to get our running game to get going more, period. I don’t care who carries the ball. The one who carries it best will carry it. The one we think it means the most to will carry it.”

As for Boulware, he said he’s still looking for a running back who can move the ball downhill more and now, that’s Bass.

“Right now, that’s J.J. for us,” Boulware said. “Alexander has not produced that way, but he’s still young.”

Is that Todd?

They’ve seen him go deep and for the first time this season, Cyclone fans saw Todd Blythe going a different direction – through the middle of the field.

In Iowa State’s 15-13 win over Iowa last Saturday, the senior wide receiver cut through the middle of the field for a number of short passes, something senior quarterback Bret Meyer said Toledo might not be preparing for.

“We just want to get [Blythe] involved early and that’s something they’re probably not expecting, for him to be going underneath a whole lot,” Meyer said. “We’ve got to take advantage of it.”

Against the Hawkeyes, Blythe caught five passes for 33 yards receiving.

Chizik said he thought short passes would be the most useful, but there were times when they looked downfield for Blythe.

“One of the things we thought would be effective for us is to bring Todd in on some shallow things,” Chizik said. “Try to dump the ball, catch and carry, and see how many yards he can get.”

Asked if he planned to continue to use Blythe in that role, Chizik said he plans to mix up which receiver gets the ball. Junior R.J. Sumrall has caught 16 passes for 169 yards this season, while sophomore Marquis Hamilton has pulled down 10 passes for 121 yards.

“It’s about being unselfish,” he said.

“It’s about understanding what they’re not giving us. Todd may come back next week and not get a ball thrown to him. That’s called team football.”

Whatever spot in the field he’s running to, Blythe said he’s excited about the new look offense.

“To be in an offense like that is great because you know at any one time no matter how the game’s going, you’re going to have a chance to make a play for this team,” Blythe said.

Welcome back

When Chizik takes his Cyclone team to Toledo for their first road game this season, it won’t be the first time the football coach has visited the Glass Bowl. As an assistant coach and inside linebacker coach for Central Florida, Chizik’s Knight’s traveled to Toledo for a matchup with the Rockets.

“I know they have a lot of people behind them and it was a great football environment,” Chizik said. “It was a nice football atmosphere.”

The atmosphere wasn’t the only enjoyable part of Chizik’s trip, as Central Florida defeated Toledo, 31-24.

Chizik said he expects an energized Toledo team waiting for his Cyclones after the Rockets lost last year’s game with the Cyclones in three overtimes.

“If you gather anything out of that, it’s that this team certainly isn’t coming into this game in any way, shape or form intimidated,” he said. “They probably feel like they should have won it last year and now that they’re going to be at home, it’s going to be a big advantage for them to win it this year.”

Adult behavior

He’s played quarterback, running back and wide receiver, so now Cyclone fans are wondering where else freshmen Phillip Bates might wind up.

Bates, who turned 18 on Thursday, came up with a 38-yard pass to set up Iowa State’s game-winning field goal versus Iowa last Saturday. Asked about where fans can expect to see Bates this weekend, Chizik responded with a joking answer.

“I don’t know where he’ll be,” Chizik said. “He might be at quarterback, might be wideout, might be at nose guard, safety, wherever.”

As for Bates, he doesn’t care where he’s playing as long as he’s on the field.

“Whatever I need to help with I’ll do,” Bates said. “If we keep moving in the right direction, I’m down for whatever I need to do to help win games.”