As the Iowa State football team struggles through another tough season, it has been very easy to concentrate on the many negative aspects.

And those who have read my columns throughout the year know I have taken full advantage of that situation.

Today, however, I am going to change pace and concentrate on the good things about the Iowa State football team.

Let’s start on the offensive side of the ball. Wide receiver Damien Groce has been a huge contributor on the offense, and with the lack of a running game, arguably the biggest weapon on this side of the ball.

Groce currently has 39 receptions for 570 yards and six touchdowns.

He has exceeded all expectations by combining good speed withexcellent hands and should be heavily considered for All-Big 12 honors, as he is sixth in the league in receptions.

And how about Chris Anthony?

While he has proven to be strictly a possession receiver, he does his job well and has 32 catches this year, ranking him seventh in the league.

He has the two qualities necessary in a good possession receiver: good hands and fearlessness.

He has caught a number of balls over the middle in which he proceeds to get hammered, but time after time, he comes down with the catch.

On the defensive side of the ball, super sophomore James Reed has emerged as one of the top players at his position in the conference.

He has 71 tackles to go along with four sacks and has been consistently solid in stopping both the run and the pass.

He has shown the words “sophomore slump” are not in his vocabulary, should be the Defensive MVP for the second year in a row and has a very good chance of earning All-Big 12 honors.

Reggie Hayward has demonstrated an ability to dominate a game single-handedly and, with 20 more pounds, could be a force every week.

After three games, it appeared that Hayward was headed for a spectacular season, but his production has slacked off considerably of late.

Still, Hayward is only a sophomore and will continue to improve.

After struggling in his first game, Jessie Beckom has been pretty solid at linebacker.

The man of granite is fourth on the team in tackles and leads the squad in tackles for losses with four.

Safety Jeff Waters has proven to be a dependable player, and his 13 tackles against Nebraska vaulted him into the team lead.

On special teams, Carl Gomez has had a pretty good year which would have been a lot better if he didn’t kick into the wind seemingly 75 percent of the time.

Perhaps the biggest positive that can come out of the season is the team’s attitude. Sure, there have been many disappointing losses, but this team has refused to give up.

Take the Texas game. ISU spotted the Ricky Williams-led Longhorns 28 points and could have packed it up right there.

Instead, they came out and were actually in the game as late as nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Against Texas Tech, the Cyclones mounted a furious rally that came up just short, and they also tallied late scores against Nebraska and Missouri.

So there are some positives in a season which will produce no more than four victories and included a contract extension that many felt was unwarranted.

The real way to make this a positive season is to win these final two very winnable games, finish with four victories for the first time since 1992 and look ahead to next year with renewed enthusiasm.

Whether that can be accomplished is still to be determined.

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Josh Flickinger is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Rockford, Ill.