The break is over — practice will now begin.

The ISU football team begins its spring practice Wednesday, looking to build on a 2004 season that saw it win seven games and a share of the Big 12 North title.

“Last year is last year, it’s over,” said ISU coach Dan McCarney. “There is definitely some momentum, some confidence going into next season because of how far we came last year. This is a whole new deal.”

Thanks to an appearance in the Independence Bowl, the Cyclones had extra practice that will benefit them now.

“We got to extend our season, that’s the most important thing,” McCarney said. “We got in extra work, more evaluation with last year’s team.

“We know more about the guys we have coming back, because we got basically another spring ball.”

After starting the 2004 season 2-4, Iowa State came back, winning five of its last six games. In those final five games, the Cyclones won their first conference game in nearly two years and claimed the school’s second bowl victory with a 17-13 triumph over Miami of Ohio.

The new challenge for the Cyclones is to build on their success.

“We know there are going to be tremendous challenges ahead with our schedule,” McCarney said. “We have a good nucleus of kids who have played, a number of those who started.

“Offensively we were loaded with freshman and sophomores [last year], and those kids are all … going to have more experience.”

McCarney pointed to starting quarterback Bret Meyer, who began the season splitting time with Austin Flynn before gaining the solo job midway through the year.

With Meyer solely running the show, Iowa State went 4-2, only falling to Colorado and Missouri.

“He won’t be changing half the plays that come in from the sidelines come fall,” McCarney said with a laugh. “Naturally, when you play and have a better understanding of the offense [there are more things you can do].”

With Meyer firmly entrenched at quarterback, Flynn has moved to receiver.

“We’re going to try to find a way to work him into the system and get him on the field,” quarterbacks coach Todd Fitch said in an interview earlier this year. “He’s a competitive guy. He’s a good athlete and he helped us win games this year.”

Terrance Highsmith will move from receiver to quarterback to serve as Meyer’s backup.

For the moment, Meyer’s running mate, Todd Blythe, is recovering from surgery on his torn ACL. The standout freshman will miss all of spring ball, but McCarney said he will be back for fall practice and the season.

“He’s doing great, outstanding,” McCarney said. “Better than you could imagine.

“He’s on schedule, or easily ahead of schedule from where everyone thought he would be. Whatever timeline [the doctors] have set up for him, he says, “I’ll be ahead of that.’ We just have to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t go too fast on his rehab.”

McCarney said Blythe should be running by June, sprinting and cutting in July and should return to practice in August before the 2005 schedule begins.