Iowa State tailback Ennis Haywood had something to prove Saturday in the Cyclones’ season opener against Ohio University. Haywood, a junior, entered the game as the first tailback to start for the Cyclones, not named Davis, in five years. Troy and Darren Davis were both standouts, piling up impressive numbers during their Cyclone careers. Haywood got his point across as he totaled 159 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. Haywood averaged over seven yards a carry. “I feel real good, and I think that I got the attention of a couple of people. I wanted to show my teammates and everybody watching that I could pick up where Darren Davis left off,” Haywood said. “So many people have doubts in their mind, because the Davis brothers have left and I wanted to show that I could do the same thing,” he said. Cyclone quarterback Sage Rosenfels was impressed but also not surprised by Haywood’s performance. “Ennis played great. I told everybody that he was going to be good and today he showed what he can do,” Rosenfels said. Haywood turned in the game-breaking play with a 73-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter. The Cyclones only led 16-9 when Haywood broke his big run, and the Bobcats couldn’t get within 10 points after that. Haywood took the hand-off and went through a hole in the middle of the line sprung to the outside and raced down the sideline to the end zone. “I was waiting for a big one and it seemed like a long time before it came but I was just being patient. I saw the big hole and went for it. When I broke through the hole, I knew nobody was going to catch me,” Haywood said. Cyclone Head Coach Dan McCarney pointed out that Haywood’s speed shown in the breakaway touchdown run has come through hard work. “Ennis has improved his speed since he got caught from behind against Ball State his freshman year. Now he may get tackled, but he’s not going to get caught from behind. We all feel that he’s got an extra gear, and he sure showed it on that long run,” said McCarney. Haywood jokingly recalled the time when he got caught from behind against Ball State. “When I went through the hole and broke out, I was thinking about it the whole way,” he said with a laugh.