Now what?

ISU football players try to offer reasons for a collapse that has seen the Cyclones lose 16 of their last 19 games, including 10 in a row and 12 of the last 13 Big 12 battles.

“We just haven’t made the plays, and we haven’t done what it takes in this league to win games,” linebacker Erik Anderson said.

“We’re not that far away,” said defensive end Jason Berryman, who wrapped up an incredible freshman season Saturday with a total of 110 tackles (61 solo), 19 quarterback hurries and three sacks (both tied for the team lead). “We have the athleticism; we have the playmakers. All we have to do is execute our assignments.”

Berryman said the 2003 season, defined by crucial injuries, mind-numbing blowouts and an often nonexistent offense, provided an opportunity for Iowa State “to enjoy prosperity” in the future.

Defensive tackle Jordan Carstens, who hobbled almost all year as a result of a knee injury, wasn’t so sure about the prospects of a turnaround.

“I believe they can with the players they have coming back,” Carstens said. “[But] we had the ability to do a lot of things this year, and it didn’t develop.”

None of the Cyclones, before or after Saturday’s season-ending 45-7 loss to Missouri, could pinpoint what factors led directly to Iowa State’s weekly on-field disasters. Fans and reporters have repeatedly questioned ISU head coach Dan McCarney about play-calling, recruiting, player development and assistant coaches — and the ISU head man answered in part Monday by relieving offensive coordinator Steve Brickey and special teams coordinator and offensive line coach Marty Fine of their duties, according to a report by KCRG-TV of Cedar Rapids.

Last week, McCarney said that, as he does each year, he will make decisions after reviewing his observations during the season, considering the season as a whole, and meeting with his staff and athletics director Bruce Van De Velde.

“When you go through a season like this, you just can’t say this one unit, this one position, this one coach,” he said. “I evaluate everything that we’re doing.”

What’s most perplexing to players, coaches and fans alike is that the Cyclones’ fall from a No. 9 national ranking on Oct. 13, 2002, has come with essentially the same team and coaching staff that led the team to wins against No. 20 Nebraska, 11-2 Iowa and Texas Tech and a near-upset of No. 3 Florida State in 2002.

Before the season, McCarney touted more than three-quarters of the Cyclones’ 2002 depth chart and a coaching staff that had stayed mostly intact — of the 14 assistants on McCarney’s staff, only graduate assistant Brian Woods was new in 2003.

But despite the returning players, 17 freshmen — including six true freshmen — saw action for Iowa State this year, with four true freshmen starting. McCarney said having freshmen play reflected both the strength of the Cyclones’ recent high school recruits and the disappearance of players from earlier recruiting classes, to academics, legal problems or simply never showing up to Ames.

“I’ve had a lot of good coaches come and go through here, and it all goes right back to me,” McCarney said. “We’re paying for some of those [recruiting] mistakes right now … that’s just an evaluation that should have been done better by me and my staff.”

McCarney also said some third-, fourth- and fifth-year players needed to contribute more.

“I’m disappointed with some kids right now that we thought would step up and be ready, and they’re not,” he said. “If you’re on scholarship, if you’re not out there playing on Saturday unless you’re injured — what’s wrong?

“You need to give more to the program.”

Behind the three-headed quarterbacking of freshman Austin Flynn, who took the most snaps, junior Waye Terry, who started the season’s last four games, and Cris Love, the Cyclones scored 173 points — 116th of 117 NCAA Division I-A teams — and averaged 297.5 yards per game. Brickey and Fine were the most-often criticized for the offensive slumps.

But Brickey coached quarterbacks Sage Rosenfels and Seneca Wallace to 27 wins in four seasons. Both now play in the NFL. And the ISU running game has shown some signs of life, with freshman Stevie Hicks turning in the best rushing performance by a Cyclone in nearly 20 games against Missouri.

“I think we’re going to be really good next year,” Hicks said. “It will improve a lot more because we’ll have a lot more time to work with each other.”

Senior wide receiver Lane Danielsen said continued futility each week wore down the Cyclones eventually. The Cyclones averaged nearly 400 yards per game in nonconference play but wilted against the highly rated defenses of Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska and Colorado.

“It’s tough mentally to get up for it and get the confidence going after losing nine straight,” he said. “[The past struggles are] still in the back of your mind.”

The Cyclone defense finished 109th in the nation in both rushing defense and scoring defense. Tyson Smith, Carstens and Nik Moser all missed much of the season as seven teams topped 40 points against Iowa State.

“We’ve got some personnel issues that we need to improve upon,” McCarney said. “Recruiting starts Sunday … I’ve got some real important stops to make.”

Senior offensive lineman Bob Montgomery’s season started with the sudden death of former high school and Cyclone teammate Matt Grosserode and a broken foot and ended with nine straight losses playing on the bad foot. Despite that, Montgomery said he believes McCarney can sell the ISU program to prospective players — and get the Cyclones back to winning.

“This is just what God had planned for us, I guess,” Montgomery said.

“[But] it starts with the head guy. He’s amazing … That’s what I’ll take with me the rest of my life — the heart and the determination he puts in his players.”