Football is a copycat sport and imitation is often the best form of flattery.

That has been the case in recent years, with teams mimicking what Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock has created on that side of the ball with the Cyclones in his five years with the program.

You see it across college football and even some in the NFL as teams have taken things from the defensive scheme.

It’s something that has evolved over time with the predominately three-down look, with eight dropping into coverage, and affecting both the run and the pass game.

“He’s kind of a trend setter. For so long in this league it was really looked at as being innovative offensively and he brought some defensive innovation to this league,” head coach Neal Brown said.

The Cyclones play with three high safeties and provide a unique look for opposing defenses due to how often they will mix things up. They can drop eight into coverage, but also bring five-man pressures and it is something that isn’t seen on a week-to-week basis.

It’s a challenge given all that Iowa State can do out of it although they won’t blitz as much as you’d imagine given the flexibility of the scheme. In fact, according to PFF, the Cyclones have only blitzed 47 out of 277 drop backs. That's only 17-percent of the time.

Still, the unit is one of the top defenses in the Big 12 allowing 23 points per contest and 108.6 rushing yards per game, both of which rank second in the league.

The defense is designed to give the false perception that the Cyclones are presenting a light box, but in actuality that simply isn’t the case. Because of the zone concepts, defenders are never too far from the football and they’re able to get an extra hat in the box and keep the passing game in front of them.

It’s a mind-trick for offense coordinators to deal with and the Mountaineers managed only 41 rushing yards on 28 attempts a season ago.

“Those guys they’re not that far away so they fit the run really good out of drop eight looks. They make it very difficult to run the football,” coordinator Gerad Parker said. “Eleven pairs of eyes on the football. They close to the football very good.”

Parker is familiar with Heacock when the two were on the same staff at Purdue. When looking at the Cyclones he sees many of the traits of the defensive coordinator, which isn’t unexpected. It’s a different type of scheme than when the two coached together, but many of the same things are there.

“They’re tough. They’re physical and they run to the football,” Parker said. “He gives multiple looks. They’re prepared because he is prepared.”

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