Williams Blog: Jarvis West to get more touches

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com PublisherFollow Chris on Twitter @ChrisMWilliams

At the beginning of the 2010 Iowa State football season, I heard a rumor that the coaching staff had wanted to play wide receiver Jarvis West as a true freshman. A nagging injury that West suffered during camp kept that from happening.

If you follow Iowa State closely at all, you know that seeing true freshmen out on the field at all is a rare thing.

At that point, I tucked the idea of West potentially being a special football player in the back of my mind.

While re-watching last Saturday’s 41-7 win over Texas Tech, I noticed that the Cyclones were attempting to use West in ways that we hadn’t seen so far this season. Sweeps. Reverses. Screens.

I wasn’t just imagining this.

“It was certainly directed by the head football coach that it happened," said Paul Rhoads. "He is a talented football player. We have got to get the ball in his hands four, six or eight times a game."

So why am I blogging about a redshirt freshman wide receiver who only has 11 receptions and 47 yards through eight games?

When I combine what I saw on Saturday with Rhoads’ comments on the topic, something tells me that we’ll see a lot more of West before the season comes to an end.

With Shontrelle Johnson being out of the lineup due to injury, West has filled in admirably on the kick return team averaging 25.6 yards per return.

"We have to get the ball in his hands and see if he can’t make a big play," said Rhoads.

Stay tuned.