Iowa State defensive coordinator Wally Burnham wants his defense to have fewer missed tackles. Photo by Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune
With Iowa State on a bye last week, defensive coordinator Wally Burnham went back to school.
The Cyclones commissioned a study on their run defense. Burnham learned that if you take out about five plays littered with missed tackles, the defense would be averaging 2.7 yards per game.
It’s a nice figure, but even Burnham acknowledges you can’t ignore the big runs. ISU is allowing 4.6 yards per run. To lower that number, the Cyclones must do what the study implied.