It’s good news for the ISU football team.

And bad news for everyone else.

Stevie Hicks said he is 100 percent healthy and ready to put to rest the one question surrounding the Cyclones high-octane offense.

Can Iowa State find balance?

“Some teams do think that we get one dimensional at times,” said wide receiver Jon Davis. “If Stevie can get in there and run the ball, [defenses] have to suck them in and worry about that too. It just gives us so many more options.”

With Hicks missing large chunks of last season with injuries and a reliable replacement nowhere to be found, the Cyclones had to rely heavily on their passing game. Now Hicks is back and looking for the form that saw him rush for more than 1,000 yards as a sophomore in 2004.

“I’m great. I’m back to 100 percent,” Hicks said. “I’m really excited to get things rolling again. I think a lot of people may have forgotten what I can do, so it’s nice to get back to where I was.”

Hicks was hurt in the Cyclones third game of the season, a victory over Army at West Point. He tried to play the next week against Nebraska, but left the game after just one carry.

Iowa State went just 1-3 in games in which Hicks wasn’t able to go, while winning six of the eight games he played in.

“If he stays healthy he’ll have a tremendous senior year,” said ISU coach Dan McCarney. “It’s a position that it’s never easy to stay healthy and be durable because they take so many hits, but Stevie has looked outstanding so far. Ask any of our defensive players or coaches.”

Hicks returned from his injury for Iowa State’s eighth game of the season, a 42-14 Cyclone thrashing of Texas A&M, rushing for 122 yards and two touchdowns. He followed that performance with a 149-yard outing against Kansas State.

Although Hicks was back in the lineup, he played the final three games of the season at less than full strength, rushing for 40 yards in those games.

“Last year when he was injured, he was in there but [other teams] could tell that he was a little bit off his game,” Davis said. “Just watching him in two-a-days – teams are going to have a tough time with him.”

With Hicks firmly entrenched as the Cyclones No. 1 running back, the race for playing time behind the senior is fierce.

Sophomore Jason Scales had a leg up during fall practice, but tore cartilage in his left knee Aug. 8. He may be back for Iowa State’s opener against Toledo on Aug. 31.

With Scales out, true freshman Josh Johnson has moved up the depth chart, taking the No. 2 spot behind Hicks and impressing both coaches and teammates.

“He can get to the outside and take it the distance but he’s also a big back with big, strong legs who can run through tackles,” said junior receiver Todd Blythe.

Johnson rushed for more than 2,000 yards as a senior at Ponca City High School in Oklahoma, earning first-team all-state honors.

“I’ve been working hard,” Johnson said. “I wanted to play this year and got an opportunity to prove myself. [Some of the other players] told me it was possible that I could be playing this year, but I had to go out and prove to others that I could play at this level.”

Even with Hicks, Scales and Johnson carrying the football, the responsibility for success rests on the entire offense. Iowa State averaged 130 yards on the ground in its seven wins last season, while gaining just 82 yards rushing in its five losses. The success of the ISU rushing attack – and also the entire offense – is a team effort.

“We have to be better and more physical,” McCarney said. “This is about what happens up front. We have quality backs at Iowa State but it’s about what happens in the trenches.”