For the most part, experience is key for any defense.

Iowa State, however, has struggled to keep guys healthy on the field, and the defense took another big hit last weekend.

Senior linebacker Jevohn Miller went down Nov. 1 in the opening minutes of the Oklahoma game, suffering a knee injury that was initially reported as season-ending.

“[Miller] is my roommate too and a true senior just like me, so it’s really hard just to watch that happen to a friend,” said senior defensive end Cory Morrissey. “For the team, with a young team already, it’s just hard to replace that right away.”

The extent of Miller’s injury has not yet been determined, although he did undergo a MRI Nov. 3.

“[Doctors] are trying to figure it out. They can’t get a good feel for this one,” said ISU coach Paul Rhoads. “They believe it’s an MCL, but they don’t know what else. It’s ugly on tape, but it’s a clean play. I have no problem with what happened on the play.”

Miller, who hails from Brooklyn, Iowa, didn’t make a huge impact early on in his career. As time went on, however, Miller earned a starting spot and became one of the true leaders of the defense.

With a defense that has struggled as of late, losing one of its main leaders isn’t going to help.

“You have three of your top-four defensive tackles who are out [Nov. 1] … going up against an offensive line with guards and tackles averaging 335 pounds,” Rhoads said. “They’ve got a big effect on how well your team plays, how quickly they line up and how fast you fit things.”

The new issue for coaches will be deciding who replaces Miller. As of Nov. 3, redshirt freshman Alton Meeks was listed as the starter on the depth chart.

Also listed behind Meeks was redshirt sophomore Kane Seeley, who Rhoads said is sharing practice time with Meeks at the middle linebacker position.

“[Seeley] and [Meeks] are both taking reps with that first unit,” Rhoads said. “How that breaks down, we’ll see by how they practice this week. But either one of those guys have very little experience.”

With the defense having such little experience, Morrissey says that it is going to take a group effort to get the younger players ready to play. He knows that it can be done, but it will take a lot of work for the defense to have success.

“It’s going to be up to [Miller],” Morrissey said. “He’s going to have to watch film with them and then help them out. They’re going to have to get in and talk to [Wally Burnham, ISU defensive coordinator] and coach Rhoads a lot if were going to have success this year on defense.”