The ISU football team enters the Big 12 Conference season Saturday at Baylor and things are good. The Cyclones are 3-0 and optimism is running wild as the momentum builds. Remind you of last year? Me too, in some ways. The Cyclones started fast at 3-0 last season before folding in the Big 12, losing several close games. This Cyclone team has shown the ingredients that a team needs to put together a winning season. There’s balance in the offense, the defense is playing well and the special teams are solid, well at least from the defensive side. Let’s talk more about this balanced offense. Through the first three games, the Cyclones have piled up over 400 yards of total offense in each game. Now that is serious production. The numbers in the rushing and passing game were nearly equal in the Cyclones 24-14 victory over intrastate rival Iowa. A big change from last year, when it seemed like the entire offense revolved around Darren Davis. Darren Davis off left tackle, Darren Davis off right tackle, Darren Davis up the middle, Darren Davis running a shotgun draw. You get my drift. Now I’m fully aware that Darren Davis was a great running back, but this new balanced attack the Cyclones have featured will be a lot more effective in the long run. Sage Rosenfels was touted by some NFL scouting reports as the second best senior quarterback in the nation and hasn’t disappointed so far. Either scorching UNLV through the air or hurting Iowa on the ground, Rosenfels has played near flawless football in the first three games. Of course Rosenfels has been aided by several big plays from his receivers and tight ends. J.J. Moses is a speedy playmaker, while Anthony is a mixture of a possession receiver and a hell of a blocker. The tight end position was pretty much non-existent in the passing game in the past, but Mike Banks and Kyle Knock have led a big change in that area. Besides helping block for the running game, Knock and Banks have come through with big catches and both have trucked their share of would-be tacklers. Ennis (I’ll save using the overused Menace nickname) Haywood has been the consistent, grind it out, type of running back that the Cyclones need. He isn’t going to rack up the huge numbers that Davis did, but the Cyclones don’t need him to. As always, the offensive line has gone somewhat unnoticed in all of the Cyclones early success but not in this column. The offensive line has been hard at work opening holes for Haywood to run for 100 yards and keep defenses off Rosenfels’ back. Rosenfels has gone through the first three games not being sacked and a victim of little pressure. You think he knows the reason why? You better believe it. Ask Rosenfels and he’ll tell you that the offensive line has played a big role in the three Cyclone victories and will add that they’re the heart and soul of the team. The only problem I’ve seen with the offense is it struggles to score in the red zone. The failure to punch the ball into the end zone has left all the pressure on kicker Mike McKnight who has been a little on the inconsistent side. I will point out that McKnight has been left to kick from one of the hash marks, instead of the middle of the field, which increases the difficulty of field goals that even appear to be chip shots. Last season the Cyclones offensive miscues haunted them throughout the Big 12 season. They were one or two plays away from beating, oh let’s see here, Kansas, Kansas State, Colorado and Texas. The real fun begins Saturday for the Cyclones in Waco. They’re already three wins from a possible bowl bid and if the offense continues to run like a well-oiled machine, anything is possible.