A preseason top-10 ranking means that Iowa State football can’t afford to falter in the early games of the season if its postseason goals are to be reached. The margin for error is not that of a young, developing team.

For a season set to be unlike any other, it’s only fitting that fall camp, and the practices that take place during it, have a change of their own.

Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell and his staff have developed a setting in practice where primary offensive players are going against their first-string counterparts.

What that means is star quarterback Brock Purdy has to complete a pass with 2020 First Team All-Big 12 safety Greg Eisworth in the secondary and the nations leading sack-getter last year in Will McDonald trying to create a rush. All-American Mike Rose has to deal with potential Heisman candidate Breece Hall barreling out of the backfield.

These “good on good” reps only exist because the Cyclones are led by plenty of senior, veteran players that have stuck around and created a team that everyone expects to contend with Oklahoma for the Big 12 title. Defensive Coordinator Jon Heacock understands that every day is a day with something to prove for this Iowa State team.

“When you get a veteran, senior group that can compete against each other and every single day is a battle, then that makes you better for sure,” Heacock said.

The benefits to pitting the best players on each side of the ball against each other is that, in some cases, it could be the best one-on-one competition a player will see all year, at least in Big 12 play.

With eight selections to the Preseason All-Big 12 First Team, there’s stars at every level of the defense and every position group on offense.

What that allows for in fall camp, and as the Cyclones ramp up the practices in preparation for Sept. 4, is the rare ability to go up against a teammate who knows more about the person than any opponent ever will. The fact that Iowa State is getting those kinds of practices won’t require them to ramp up to “game speed”, and may be the reason for starting slow early in the season. Heacock knows even the slightest bit of weakness will be exploited on the practice field.

“If you don’t show up for practice you’ll get embarrassed. And that’s the easiest way I can say it,” Heacock said. “There’s enough players on both side that offensively or defensively the challenges become real every single day.”

Coaches are able to game plan based off of things they see from guys with talent they’ll consistently see in the regular season. The more skills and knowledge a defense has against an offense, the more creative and difficult the offense will become to read.

That, in turn, will create an ever-evolving sense of urgency for coaches to get the best out of their players and who better to help than their own teammates?

With the coronavirus pandemic altering all sorts of offseason practices and game plans in 2020, it allowed Campbell and his staff to really take a deeper look at how practices can be better utilized leading up to the season. One of the easiest ways to make sure players are ready for games is to put them in game settings in July and August.

Campbell talked back in the early months of 2020 about how the spring practices would be very light on contact, and part of the reason for that was the ability to then make fall practices more intense.

With not many empty starting roles to fill for this Iowa State team, it allows for all those returning starters to then take the next step in development. That step is bringing consistent energy to practices, so game days don’t feel as different. Heacock sees a maturity and growth in his players that he thinks was earned in seasons past.

“I think our guys have grown,” Heacock said. “I respect our players and what they’ve done. They worked really hard to get where they are at. It’s not the same group so that’s a blessing.”