Iowa State’s offensive linemen spent most of the summer dedicated to an intense weight-lifting and training program in hopes of leading the Cyclone ground game to another level in 1999.

After the ISU’s 310 yard rushing performance in a 17-10 victory over Iowa on Saturday, it appears the Cyclone trenchmen have accomplished their mission.

“They talked about [strength and conditioning coach] Matt McGettigan in the fourth quarter,” Cyclone head coach Dan McCarney said after his line’s gutsy performance against the Hawks. “[They said] that we’re going to win the game because he got them ready all through the summer. We wanted to make sure it would pay off in the end, and it sure did.”

The added size and strength provided ISU with a tremendous advantage against Iowa.

ISU was able to control the line of scrimmage against the Hawkeyes with each member of its offensive front weighing around 300 pounds.

The Cyclones’ front five of Bill Marsau, Ben Beaudet, Ben Bruns, Ryan Gerke and Marcel Howard continually blew the Iowa defense off the ball and created massive gaps for the ISU backfield.

“They dominated and opened up the holes,” Cyclone running back DeCarlos Anderson said. “All they wanted to do was go out there and be real physical.”

Cyclone All-Big 12 tailback Darren Davis zipped through the Hawks for 235 yards on 38 carries.

He said the additional strength and size of his line made a world of difference against the Hawks.

“The offensive line has improved a lot,” Davis said. “The guys have put on 20 and 30 pounds, and we needed that.”

Bruns said Darren’s performance reflected on the tremendous effort given by him and his fellow linemen.

“It’s so good to see Darren take off and run after you make a good block,” he said. “That’s the best feeling a lineman can have. You run down the field with him, and you’re just jumping up and down.”

The Cyclone line was able to use last year’s 27-9 victory as a momentum builder against the Hawks.

Marsau said the win over Iowa in ’98 provided ISU with an attitude that they can compete with anybody.

“In the past, we hadn’t beaten them, and no one even remembered us beating them,” he said. “Knowing you could play with them and beat them makes a big difference as far as your confidence level goes.”

Last season’s performance against Iowa was one of the rare bright spots for the ISU line in 1998, though, as the Cyclones averaged only 130 yards per game on the ground and 379 overall.

This year, they appear to have gained more consistency as ISU has an average of 372 yards rushing and nearly 500 in total offense through the first two games.

“We’ve come miles since we got together last year,” Marsau said. “We’re starting to bond as a unit.”

However, there still is room for improvement.

The Cyclone offense was unable to put the Hawks away in the second half, and Marsau said they must do a better job of finishing off their opponents.

“We played hard the whole game, but when we have a team down we’ve got to put them in the hole,” he said. “We can’t always allow our defense to do it.”