Last year, the Cyclones went to Las Vegas and shut down the UNLV offense, in the process Iowa State picked up its first road shut-out of an opponent in 21 years. The defensive MVP of the game was James Reed. He lit up the Rebel backfield, totaling eight tackles, four of which were for a loss. The UNLV backfield has been revamped with the addition of Washington State transfer Kevin Brown, in addition to Jeremi Rudolph. Add versatile quarterback Jason Thomas to the mix and stopping the Rebel attack this year may be a much larger task. “It was probably my best game of the season,” the senior lineman said. “That was last season and even though I had a good game last season against UNLV, you know, I can’t think I’m gonna have a good game against ’em now.” “They got better I’m sure, and I know they improved, so I can’t dwell on how good I did in the past, its all about what’s coming up now,” Reed explained. Before leaving the game with a sore foot last week, Reed showed why he has been on the All-Big 12 team the past two seasons. He had eight total tackles and one sack in just over two quarters of play as the Cyclone defense held the Ohio triple- option attack to 179 rushing yards. “I felt the defense did pretty good,” Reed said. “I came out the third quarter and sat out the fourth because of my foot. I mean, I wasn’t satisfied, but I think I did okay, you know. I watched film, and I think I could do a lot better. I know I could do a lot better. I know I can move around faster and run faster.” Reed said his foot injury is the result of “flat feet” and that it won’t bother him Saturday. Besides the Bobcats first drive, which included a long kick return and a 15-yard personal foul, the defense had its way with the highly touted Ohio rushing attack. “I’m like, `Man, they came to play,’ and what we do to adjust to that, we just have to buckle down and go after them; we can’t let ’em get no more easy breaks,” Reed said. “Our defense was sleeping then. After that I think we stepped it up a lot.” Reed said he is most pleased with the condition he is in; working out over the summer has him in his best shape, and he didn’t cramp up at all during the 90 degree-plus heat. “The heat didn’t bother me on the field. We had cool-fans blowing a mist on us. It was hot, but I didn’t cramp up during the game. I cramped up probably after the game for like a split second, but the heat didn’t have no effect on me,” Reed explained. “Knowing that I played in 90 degree weather, I can play in any other weather.” The heat isn’t supposed to be as extreme against the Rebels, but the UNLV attack won’t be the same as the offense the Cyclones faced last week, either. “When we played Ohio, we ran a defense that’s not our normal defense because of the option and the type of offense Ohio ran,” Reed said. “Now playing against UNLV we gonna play our similar defense, you know, the one we play all season.” Reed hopes to see an overall improvement from the Cyclones in this game, as opposed to the somewhat sloppy first game. “I would’ve liked to have won by a bigger margin, I know we could have, but I just thank God we won,” Reed said. The 25 points scored by the Cyclone offense may not be enough to win in the Big 12. Reed knows that if the offense doesn’t pick it up, a lot of pressure will be on the defense. “People are gonna score some, but our job is to not let `em score,” Reed said. “It would be not true if we say we gonna stop a team from scoring, but I think we can hold teams low, real low.” “It was the first game. I think our offense was just a little cold,” Reed explained. “First game, they got the bugs out, so I think they gonna go in there ready to play.” And if the defense can help the offense score, they will. Forcing turnovers is a way to accomplish that feat. Last season the Cyclones finished at the bottom of the Big 12 in forced turnovers. Already in one game the Cyclones have forced four. “I’d like to get more. I mean, we ain’t gonna stop at four because more turnovers means more games we can win, it gives us more opportunities to win,” Reed said. Iowa State has not seen UNLV play yet, so they don’t know what to expect. If the past is any indication, they can expect big things from No. 52.