Around them, passes are snuffed, deflected, denied before the first down marker.

Indeed, Iowa State’s passing defense is tops among the Big 12, allowing 139.6 yards per game.

And yet, when the ball is rushed or optioned, tackles are broken. Assignments are missed. Touchdowns are scored.

The Cyclones rank 11th in the conference in rushing defense, allowing 213.8 yards per game.

Opponents eat up 5.3 yards per carry.

Missouri’s Zac Abron had 206 rushing yards on the year coming into last weekend – a little over 50 per game.

He ran for 147 against the Cyclones.

“We missed tackles. Kid broke tackles,” ISU defensive coordinator John Skladany said. “We certainly have to address our rush defense.”

Skladany did the math. Abron rumbled for 65 yards after missed tackles.

Rushed for 60 more, because “we didn’t execute properly,” Skladany said.

“There’s a lot of things in the running game we gotta shore up,” Sophomore defensive lineman Jordan Carstens said.

Plugging the opposing running backs’ running lanes with Cyclones, Carstens said, is one way to stop the run. Another is to tackle them there.

Being fundamentally sound as a defense, Carstens said, is a third.

Yet, herein lies the contradiction of this poor rushing defense and their statistics: The Cyclones have been fundamentally sound this year.

Iowa State has twice allowed opponents no points for the game.

Two shutouts. 45-0 in the season opener against Northern Iowa. A 41-0 win in the Big 12 conference opener against Baylor.

In fact, the Bears rushed for a paltry 13 yards against the Cyclones. (Which, surprisingly, is not a record. That belongs to the eight yards UNLV rushed for in 1999.)

So where are the yards coming from?

Nebraska and Ohio.

The latter rushed for 285 yards against Iowa State. The former, 336 yards.

Though Nebraska’s offensive output is expected – the Cornhuskers are first in total offense (461.4 yards per game) and points (38.6 per game) in the Big 12 – ISU head coach Dan McCarney is not surprised by Ohio’s.

“You can see why they’ve won eight of their last nine games . They gave us all we wanted last year [25-15 ISU win] and all we wanted today,” he said at his post-game press conference three weeks ago.

If not the robust rushers, perhaps the defensive line and linebackers should step up play.

After all, no Cyclone is among the top 10 in the Big 12 in sacks.

More damaging still, no Cyclone is among the leaders in the conference in tackles for loss – which means the Cyclones aren’t breaking the offensive line’s seal of protection.

Carstens doesn’t buy it.

It should fall to no one area (defensive line, linebackers, secondary), Carstens said, to improve against the run.

“The defense as a whole, I’d say, really needs to work on our fundamentals,” he said.

Skladany agrees.

“In this league, you’ve got to have everybody involved in the run. It’s a team effort. Just like it is in pass defense,” he said.

Notwithstanding the dichotomy of the passing and rushing defense, Carstens believes each is given equal time in practice.

“Pass defense is something we’ve just stepped up on,” Carstens said. While the run, he said, is something the Cyclones need to work on.

“We’ve got new kids in places,” Skladany said.

Defensive backs Johnny Smith III, Marc Timmons and Harold Clewis are sophomores, as is Carstens, while linebacker Justin Eilers is seeing his first extended action of his career.

Youth is no excuse, Skladany said.

“We’re going to need to play better run defense.”

Yet he may tolerate youth.

“The bottom line,” Skladany said, “Are they getting into the end zone?”