For the past four seasons, Tom Farniok was the man in the middle.

After redshirting his initial season in 2010, Farniok started nearly every game for the Cyclones at center. A handful of times throughout his career, though, he fell to injury.

And when he did, Jamison Lalk filled the gap in the ISU offensive line.

But Farniok played his final season with the Cyclones last fall. And with him gone for good, Lalk is now the go-to guy at center. Since taking over, he’s made quite the impression.

“[Lalk] is doing really well, I’m very pleased,” said offensive coordinator Mark Mangino. “Last year, in all honesty, I would have thought [Lalk] was an average player. But he worked really hard, [and] he bought into it.”

Lalk hasn’t just been waiting around for playing time, though. The redshirt senior has seen action consistently throughout the past three seasons, just not at the center position. Last season, he played left guard for the majority of the year but filled in for Farniok at center briefly during the opening game of the season.

While the full-time shift hasn’t been easy, Lalk said he has gotten used to it.

“There was a rocky period I would say for a couple of weeks only and for spring ball, but, other than that, I thought I picked it up pretty quickly,” Lalk said.

Lalk wasn’t necessarily supposed to be the starting center this season either. Redshirt junior lineman Patrick Scoggins was making the transition to center over the offseason and was in contention for the job.

In the early weeks of the season, though, Scoggins went down with a season-ending injury. After that, Lalk was cemented as the center and has made the transition well. Quarterback Sam Richardson said Lalk is now starting to take the lead on the line.

“He’s a very positive guy, [he’s] got a great attitude,” Richardson said. “I don’t want to say [he’s] taken charge, but he’s definitely bringing all the guys together in that group. He’s done a great job so far this season.”

Not only has Lalk just improved on the offensive line, but Mangino said he has made some of the biggest strides on the entire team. And that is starting to rub off on other areas of the offense.

“Lalk is one of the most improved players, period,” Mangino said. “When I look at him last season on tape and watch him this year, he’s stronger, he’s quicker, he’s playing with better knee bend.

“When we use him as a puller, he has been really, really an asset to our run game.”

Running back Mike Warren, who had next to no experience before this season, has exploded in the backfield in the past few games, partially thanks to Lalk and the rest of the offensive line.

Against Texas Tech last weekend, Warren ran for a season-high 245 yards — the most so far by a freshman in the Football Bowl Subdivision this year.

“We pound away every day in practice,” Lalk said. “[Warren’s] getting more confident in us. He’s running like he knows we’re going to do the job for him. He’s not running timid, he’s running 100 miles per hour.”

Warren said he knows how big of an impact the linemen has had on the run game so far this year, and has credited them after nearly every game.

And if the Cyclones attempt to establish a run game against No. 3 Texas Christian on Saturday, Lalk and the rest of the linemen must produce one of their best performances of the season.

“It means a lot,” Lalk said. “I love having a running back that loves and appreciates us. We love and appreciate him, and we’re doing everything we can to do well for him.”