With one of the Davis brothers in the backfield since 1994, scoring hasn’t been a problem for the ISU football team. Now that the Davis duo is gone, the offense will be looking for new weapons, involving defense in a more intricate role if the Cyclones hope to have a winning season. “We have some of the best defensive lines in college football right here in the Big 12,” McCarney said. “We’re hoping that before long we can become one of those.” This year’s defensive line will feature five seniors and all of its starters from last season. Leading the charge for the line will be 2000 team captain Reggie Hayward followed by seniors James Reed and fellow captain Ryan Harklau. Junior Kevin DeRonde, who played in all 11 games last year, and senior Nigel Tharpe will help add depth to the line with senior Eric Weiford and freshmen Jordan Carstens and Casey Shelton. “Casey Shelton, Nigel Tharpe and Jordan Carstens, those are the first ones that come to mind when you talk about depth in our defensive line,” McCarney said. “Those guys have got to step it up.” With some of the most high-powered offenses in the Big 12, the spotlight will be on the defensive line to hold its own and give the Cyclone offense a chance to win games. “It’s pressure, but it’s nothing we can’t handle,” Hayward said. Hayward said pressure will be a factor in the new season, but will be balanced by experience. “We’re all players, we’re all veterans on the team, and we should be accustomed to this type of pressure,” Hayward said. “I think it is kind of exciting. A lot of pressure is on us because I think we are more than capable of stepping up to the call.” “I’m thrilled to have them on my team and on this defense,” head coach Dan McCarney said. “Those kids have been through a lot of Big 12 wars up front. They’ve had some great games, they have some average games and below average games, but they’ve paid a real price and they are an excellent group of kids.” Possibly the biggest key to success for this year’s defensive line will be the ability to force turnovers. The Cyclones were at the bottom of the league in forcing turnovers during 1999 and McCarney said if his team wants to win it will have to cause fumbles and interceptions. “We’ll talk about it everyday, we’ll drill it everyday, we’ll make a point of it,” McCarney said. “They’re not going to run around dropping the ball in the Big 12, you got to knock it out.” “We just need to work together,” said Reed. “We can pass rush and we can stop the run because we all got bigger and everybody is stronger; we just got to play together.” With combined 17 seasons between them, these eight Cyclone defenders don’t think it will be too difficult to enjoy the season together. “It’s just like family,” DeRonde said. “Before we start a play you look at the other guys, and you know basically what they are going to do.” “We have fun. We joke together when we aren’t talking about football,” Reed said. With some personal goals in addition to the team goals, the line feels it will be able to hold its own. “My individual goal is to make every play,” Hayward said. “It’s not that realistic, but if you strive to make every play, you’re going to be around the ball and people are going to notice that and you’re going to make every play that you are supposed to make.” Hayward said that making “big plays” will be important for the success of the Cyclones. Hayward said he would be “doing nothing but helping my team and accomplishing my individual goals.” Reed said he also wants to improve on last season’s performance. Although he was elected to the third team All-Big 12, Reed said he was “sick to his stomach” with how he played last year. “I thought I could have been first team [All-Big 12] and that’s what I got to work on and to do that I just got to practice hard,” Reed said. While none of them wanting to make any predictions on how well the team will do the season, the lineman feel very confident. “More than definitely we’ll hold our own in the Big 12,” Hayward said. “I can show you better than I can tell you.”