The Iowa State football team has already seen many changes in the offense during spring practice and apparently more changes are in store before the season begins in the fall.

The Cyclones conclude spring practice with the spring game at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday at 3 p.m. Most of the transformations in the ISU offense involve the personnel.

The Cyclone team returns only four starters on offense and must replace all three of its top receivers.

In addition, Pete Hoener steps into the position of offensive coordinator, formerly held by Steve Loney. Returning starting quarterback Todd Bandhauer said he hasn’t see a lot of differences in the offense since Hoener has taken over.

“I’m not sure you are going to recognize most of the players, but I’m sure the offensive system is similar,” Bandhauer said.

“We don’t have as many receivers as we did last year right now and we’re not going to be able put so many receivers on the field at once like we did last year,” he said. “But still, we’re going to be running some of the similar stuff we did last year.”

Many of the personnel changes, both on offense and defense, involve 16 junior-college transfers who have signed with the Cyclones in the off-season. Three of the junior-college signees are receivers, which means they will not be able to work out on pass routes with Bandhauer until the summer, at the earliest.

“I wish they were here in the spring, but that didn’t work out,” Bandhauer said. “I hope they’re here in the summer — I can’t wait to work with those guys. I’ve heard, from second-hand information only, they’re big playmakers, and I like working with big playmakers.”

Michael Brantley and Kevin Wilson are listed as the starters at the receiver positions in the spring depth chart. Wilson, a senior, played cornerback last season and has been a special-teams starter as the kickoff and punt returner.

“I’m real happy with Mike Brantley and Kevin Wilson,” ISU Coach Dan McCarney said. “Wilson’s been a great special teams guy [and] a reserve defensive back. He’s come out and really made some big plays this spring.”

Bandhauer said he was impressed with Brantley and Wilson as well.

He said Wilson’s transition from the defensive backfield to receiver has been a smooth one so far.

“Wilson has been a blessing for me,” he added. “He’s going to be a great receiver for us.”

He also said returning starters Darren Davis at tailback and Damian Gibson at tight end have had good spring practices.

“Both those guys have had an excellent spring,” he said. “They’re probably the two most consistent players on the entire team.”

For the Cyclones to be more successful on offense next season, they must have a more balanced offense, and Bandhauer knows that. ISU passed for 2,552 yards last season, compared to only 1,028 yards rushing. The Cyclones also threw for 20 touchdowns and only rushed for six.

“We definitely can’t become one-dimensional [next season],” Bandhauer said. “Most of the time last year we were one-dimensional, whether that was passing the ball or running the football. We need to be more multi-dimensional.”