Jon Heacock loading up Cyclones’ defense for pivotal road clash
Iowa State Defensive Coordinator Jon Heacock walks along the sideline during a timeout in the second quarter against Texas Saturday November 18, 2023 at Jack Trice Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
AMES, Ia. — After losing a nail-biter at home to Texas Tech last week, Iowa State is now taking its’ show on the road, and all eyes will be on the defense.
Jon Heacock is the dean of Big 12 Coordinators, and he knows the league’s style of play like the back of his hand. The Cyclones are eager to rebound from their first loss of the season. Iowa State (7-1) is still alive in the the conference race, but will have a slim margin for error over its’ final four games, and Heacock fully understands what’s at stake.
It just so happens that the Cyclones will be playing a team that they have lost the past two meetings against. Although Kansas is only 2-6 on the season, it has talent on both sides of the ball and clearly better than what the record indicates. After all, the Jayhawks lost a thriller in the Sunflower Showdown, and had an extra week to prepare for the Cyclones. So Heacock is expecting Kansas’ best Saturday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium, and feels his defense will be ready for the challenge.
“I think the reality of the last game will help us be pretty level-headed, our kids are pretty humble right now, or staff is very humble, but for the most part our guys have played in cool environments before,” Heacock said. “The veteran guys understanding that we’re playing in Arrowhead, helping the young guys understand what that’s about.”
The Jayhawks have a very explosive offense, and it starts with their dynamic quarterback Jalon Daniels, who can make plays with his arm and legs. Heackock knows his players will have a tough task trying to contain Daniels, with his dual-threat capabilities, but they have already faced a couple of mobile signal-callers this season, and that should help.
Heacock believes his veteran defenders like Malik Verdon and Beau Freyler will have the defense ready to prove last week’s performance was a fluke. Not to mention they’ll be eager to set the tone early, and dictate the flow of the game.
“Those guys will rally up, they’ll lead this team like they have, but we gotta play better football on our side,” he said. “We gotta help ourselves a little bit, but we can do that and I love this group.”
Iowa State currently ranks 20th nationally, and second in the Big 12 in total defense. Heacock expects his defense is only going to get better down the stretch as his younger players get more experience, which will be key because the competition get tougher.
“There’s a lot of new faces still out there, but we don’t have much room for error at this point in time,” the 64-year old said. “The month of November you have to play.”
If the Jayhawks lose this contest, they’ll end up with a losing campaign, so no doubt their backs are against the wall. Clearly something has to give in this matchup. Kansas hasn’t won three-straight over Iowa State since 2007-09, but it’s still any given Autumn Saturday, and games aren’t played on paper.
Make no mistakes, the Cyclones are still the hunted. Iowa State is going to have to go out and execute, play complimentary football and the defense has to attack and not allow early scoring drives from the opposition.
“I think our group is improving, our guys all understand that if they don’t ever score, you don’t ever lose, and everybody on the defensive side understands that.”
