The ISU offensive line has faced its share of pressure this season, but no matter the adversity, it has not completely buckled.

The line is balanced with veterans Kory Pence, Seth Zehr and Aaron Brant, and newcomers Johannes Egbers and Scott Stephenson.

ISU coach Dan McCarney said he has been impressed with how the newcomers have stepped up.

“I’m really proud of Johannes Egbers; he’s getting better and better,” McCarney said. “Scott Stephenson is playing like a guy who’s been a veteran here for a couple of years, and he’s played four college football games.”

Stephenson, a junior, said the unit will stop at nothing to succeed.

“It may not look pretty sometimes, but we need to do what it takes to get the job done,” he said. “We draw from each other. It’s not just one guy on the line who provides all the strength.”

Zehr said he agreed with his teammate, but said the line has a long way to go before it peaks.

“So far, I think things are going good, but there’s a lot of room for improvement, which is good,” Zehr said. “We’ve had some success so far, which is very encouraging.”

On Saturday against Nebraska, ISU quarterback Bret Meyer was hurried seven times and was sacked six. Iowa State has allowed 20 tackles for loss in the past two games.

“You worry about it every week, because everybody in the world is blitzing now like crazy,” McCarney said. “Everybody zone blitzes, which means they’ll bring extra guys, they’ll drop defensive linemen and they’ll bring DB’s on blitzes. You worry about it every week.”

McCarney also said he is well aware of the caliber of opponent the Cyclones are facing Saturday.

“Baylor is playing great defense,” he said. “Their statistics are fantastic and they’re blitzing a lot. They’re bringing a lot of people. We anticipate seeing a lot out here Saturday, so we’re going to have to be sound.”

The ISU defense isn’t doing anything special in preparation for the Bears, despite boasting one of the top defenses in the Big 12.

“It just comes down to hard work,” Zehr said. “It starts in practice, working on blitzes, communication and picking up those blitzes.”

Part of picking up blitzes has stemmed from simply being around each other; no matter the situation, the line has started to feed from each other’s energy, he said.

“I just think that when we’re down, or we’re up, we draw from each other’s strengths,” Stephenson said.

“It may be two guys, or it may be all five.”

The strength the line has will play a big part in surviving a flurry of Bear blitzes on Sunday.

“They’re going to make some plays,” McCarney said.

“They’re going to force us into some bad plays, and hopefully we can burn them with some big plays too.”

The big plays may be a snap away, as the line bands together.

“I think all five of them are getting better,” McCarney said.

“The longer you play together, the more you practice, the more you meet, the more you play on Saturdays as a unit – you get better.”