AMES — The “pajama party” portion of preseason is over, and Iowa State football players have put on shoulder pads for contact and more live situations.
The Cyclones opened up an hour-long portion of practice to members of the media on Saturday, Aug. 8. It was officially Iowa State’s fourth day of preseason fall camp, so there is still considerable time left before its Sept. 5 season opener.
During this time, we were able to observe individual position drills and some live special teams snaps for field goal, punt and punt return units.
Iowa State ran its well-oiled, structured practice and did not stop to identify the objective of specific drills or context behind groupings to media members. Any live scrimmage portions, like first-team offense vs. first-team defense for example, were closed for viewing or observation.
However, the hour-long portion provided a valuable glimpse into practice, which has rarely been available over the last decade. It also gave data points for where position groups may stand and some names to watch moving forward.
The Cyclones were high-spirited and practice was well-coordinated and organized. Practice continued to run without pause once media were required to leave the premises. No players or coaches were available for comment during the hour-long open practice, but here are some observations.
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What we saw at Iowa State football’s open practice Saturday
Reporting by Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
