The Cyclones hit the field at Jack Trice Stadium for the first time since ending their 2014 campaign that left more questions than answers. The 2015 Cyclone Gridiron Club Spring Game didn’t offer many hard answers as many potential starters sat out with injuries, but some surprises stirred some excitement into the spring scrimmage.

But with no scoring, no punting and a lot of names that are buried deep on the fall depth chart, it’s hard to draw many conclusions from the game. For ISU coach Paul Rhoads, the conclusion of the spring practice season has given the team something to work toward going into the fall.

“We still have a long ways to go with what we are working to accomplish offensively and defensively,” Rhoads said. “What I take away from today, I thought as a defense they tackled well, I thought they limited space the offense had to work with. … Offensively, we’ve had too many balls batted down. With some of the stuff we’re trying to do as an offense, that can’t take place.”

While Dondre Daley, Quan West, D’Vario Montgomery, Orion Salters and Brett Medders sat out for a receiving corps that was plagued by injuries and surgeries in the offseason, Trever Ryen and Darius Lee-Campbell offered a spark for the offense that appears to make the deepest position of the team even deeper.

Ryen, a redshirt sophomore, was the team’s leader with six catches for 146 yards and a touchdown, showing some speed in the open field during his 49-yard touchdown catch and scamper. Rhoads went as far to call him the “MVP of the game” if there was one, as the redshirt sophomore hopes to see some playing time on special teams this year.

“I didn’t think I was going to get much playing time [in the spring game],” Ryen said. “I was struggling [this spring], I didn’t really want to get out there. One touchdown in spring practice kind of led to another one and another one and I just took off from there.”

But while some new faces made some noise for the offense, returning receivers Allen Lazard and Quenton Bundrage made appearances despite Bundrage not seeing any contact. The two each had four catches for 50 and 39 yards, respectively.

Rhoads had said all offseason that quarterback Sam Richardson would be their No. 1 guy heading into 2015, but it was Grant Rohach who impressed the most, completing 13-of-18 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown. Richardson completed just 11-of-23 passes for 145 yards, while Joel Lanning completed 11-of-27 for 125.

“Grant had his best day of the spring, by far,” Rhoads said. “I wasn’t disappointed with any of those guys. … There’s no need to read anything into Grant’s performance and where that takes the No. 2 position or No. 3 position or starting position.”

Defensively, Kamari Cotton-Moya and Darien Cotton each hauled in an interception off deflected passes, with Cotton returning his 55 yards for a touchdown. He would later leave the field with a hand injury, but Rhoads said there were no broken bones.

But it was Demond Tucker that showed why he was the defensive player of the year in the JUCO ranks. The defensive line transfer only recorded one tackle, but it was an explosive hit to a running back for a loss. He also recorded a pass breakup as an active body on the defensive line.

Rhoads said Tucker, along with the other JUCO players who participated in the spring fame, are ahead of the curve in comparison to other mid-year transfers in his six years as head coach. But that’s not enough for Tucker.

“Right now I think I’ve got a little bit more work to do, but I’ve got to get some more conditioning and get in shape, but when I get there I think I can be excellent,” Tucker said.

While the spring game failed to answer many questions about the team that will likely step on the field on Sept. 7 against Northern Iowa, it gave Rhoads and the team a direction as they prepare for fall practice.