Countdown to Kickoff: Day 34

Cyclone Fanatic is counting down the days until Iowa State’s season opener against Northern Iowa by bringing you a stat, former Cyclone moment or any other random tidbits every morning to help countdown the days.

No. 34 – Iowa State’s program record for career TFL’s

Tackles for loss haven’t always been easy to come by for Iowa State defenses, but there are three players that will always stand together in Cyclone history when it comes to that category.

Those three players are the only ones to reach the 34 tackles for loss mark during their careers wearing the Cardinal and Gold. Nick Leaders was the most recent one to eclipse the mark in 2005.

Leaders burst on to the scene as a freshman in 2002 recording 75 tackles, 8.5 of them for a loss. His best season in that statistic came during his senior year when he made 11.5 tackles for loss.

Lester Williams was the second Cyclone to reach the milestone, and is tied for the single-season record for tackles for loss with 18 in 1983. Williams made six tackles for loss during his senior season in 1985 to tie the 34 TFL mark originally set by Mark Stensrud.

Stensrud is the one tied with Williams for most tackles for loss in a single season in program history. He finished his career in 1978 as the first Cyclone to ever reach 34 tackles for loss.

Jared Stansbury

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Jared a native of Clarinda, Iowa, started as the Cyclone Fanatic intern in August 2013, primarily working as a videographer until starting on the women’s basketball beat prior to the 2014-15 season. Upon earning his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State in May 2016, Jared was hired as the site’s full-time staff writer, taking over as the primary day-to-day reporter on football and men’s basketball. He was elevated to the position of managing editor in January 2020. He is a regular contributor on 1460 KXNO in Des Moines and makes regular guest appearances on radio stations across the Midwest. Jared resides in Ankeny with his four-year-old puggle, Lolo.

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