As Jeff Waters enters his second and final year as a Cyclone, he is not only looking to have a breakthrough season, but to be a part of building a foundation for the future.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 184-pound safety from Carson, Calif. came to Iowa State after two successful seasons at Los Angeles Southwest Community College.

Waters also was part of a prolific high school program, as his team went 14-0 in his sophomore year en route to winning the city title. Waters completed his prep career with 16 interceptions and was named first-team all-4A city conference at the conclusion of his senior season.

Following that year, he faced a difficult decision regarding his future.

“Out of high school, I had a couple of Division I schools looking at me, but I went the junior college route,” Waters said.

After a two-year run at junior college, Waters found himself facing another decision. Although he had the opportunity to go to a number of different schools, Waters picked ISU.

The 1998 season had its ups and downs for Waters. He led the team in tackles, as his steady play led to 93 stops, including a season-high 17 against Missouri.

The soft-spoken senior is optimistic about the team this year.

“After the 3-0 start, we’ve got a lot of confidence. We’re a veteran team. It’s a pretty good feeling to have such a good start,” Waters said.

His role has changed a bit, and for the better. Waters, who seemed to be in on every play as the last line of defense, has seen his tackle numbers decrease — something he’s not too worried about.

“We were just talking about that recently. One teammate said that I wasn’t getting too many tackles, and I said that’s a good thing. That lets us know our defense is doing the job,” Waters said.

Looking ahead to the Kansas State game, Waters knows that the challenge will be one unlike those he has faced this year.

“We know we are going against some good athletes this week, a good quarterback, and we just have to stay focused, read our keys and believe in each other,” he said.

With Jamarcus Powers out for the season with an injury, Powers will be teamed with a couple of fairly inexperienced players in the two-deep, in particular redshirt freshman Atif Austin.

“We will miss [Powers’] experience, but Atif has come in and stepped it up despite not having much time back there. Sometimes I don’t even know Jamarcus is gone,” Waters said.

With the success the team is having this year, Waters knows the squad has potential to have a breakthrough season. And despite being a senior, he has high hopes for the future of the program.

“The guys now, they’ll be here awhile. And I’m leaving, but I want to see them progress and get better, so after I’m gone, this program will be even stronger,” Waters said.

With the consistent performance Jeff Waters puts out every time he steps on the field, the hopes for the future just might be realized this season.

 
Year G Solo Ast. Total Loss Sacks FR FC PBU INT
1998 11 57 36 93 0-0 0-0 2 1 1 0
1999 3 11 3 14 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 1