With no game this Saturday, Dan McCarney is going to use his team’s bye week to do two things — get healthy and evaluate.

“Three of our best players — Tony Yelk, Cephus Johnson and Luke Vander Sanden — didn’t play Saturday,” McCarney said during Monday’s Big 12 coaches’ teleconference.

“We’re hoping with this open week, we’ll have a chance to get all those guys back for the [Oct. 2] Oklahoma State game.”

McCarney said he thought Yelk had a “good chance” to be ready to play at No. 25 Oklahoma State but did not comment on the other two players’ injuries.

Oklahoma State officials said Monday that the conference opener will be played at 1 p.m. Oct. 2 and won’t be televised.

Iowa State finished the nonconference schedule by toppling Northern Illinois 48-41 Saturday. McCarney said he can use the time off to reflect on the surprises and concerns he’s seen from his young team so far this season.

“Northern Illinois had a lot of big plays against us, and that’s a concern,” McCarney said. “Defensively, we’re not forcing any fumbles; we got four interceptions Saturday, but we haven’t forced any fumbles yet in three games, which is a real disappointment.”

Another aspect McCarney said needs work is the Cyclone running game. Through three games, the Cyclones are averaging only 128 rushing yards per game, good enough for ninth in the Big 12. Conference leader Texas averages 386.

“We’ve seen some solid defenses; Iowa — despite their [44-7] loss to Arizona State — still has a real fine defense, and through the rest of the season, people will see that,” McCarney said. “But we’ve got to do a better job of sustaining blocks and giving our running backs more opportunities.”

At 2-1, however, the Cyclones have had some success, with one of the most important factors in that being his team’s physical fitness, McCarney said.

“We’re a good fourth-quarter football team; through our first three games, we’ve outscored our opponents 28-7 in the fourth quarter,” McCarney said.

“I think [because of] our offseason and summer workouts, our team’s pretty good from a conditioning standpoint right now.”

As for early season surprises, McCarney said the play of his newcomers — whether they be freshman or junior college transfers — has been outstanding.

“I didn’t know we would have this many newcomers impacting this team,” McCarney said.

“I’ve never been afraid to put them on the field; if they’re mature enough to play winning football, then we’ll play them. There’s a few more of those guys playing than we thought.”

One newcomer making an impact on the Cyclone offense is freshman wideout Todd Blythe. In three games, Blythe has 11 receptions for 214 yards and is tied with two other players for the national lead in touchdown receptions with five.

McCarney likened him to former ISU wideout and all-time Cyclone receiving leader Lane Danielsen.

“Todd’s all of 6-5, but the competitive stuff, the desire, the work ethic, the confidence, the character, [Todd has] all those things,” McCarney said. “He’s a leader already just like Lane was, there’s a lot of comparisons there. Lane came in as a walk-on, Todd was a heavily recruited athlete, but both of them will be two of the better ones this school’s ever had.”