COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: Day 27

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. 27 – Mike Warren’s 227 rushing attempts in 2015

Last off-season, one of the primary concerns surrounding Iowa State’s offense was, ‘Who is going to be the starting running back’?

Through the first couple games, it seemed like Tyler Brown was going to be the Cyclones main workhorse out of the backfield. But once Iowa State took on the Toledo Rockets, that perception changed. It served as Mike Warren’s coming out party.

After only tallying nine carries through the first two games, Warren carried the ball 21 times for 126 yards against the Rockets. After that, Warren was the Cyclones’ No. 1 option out of the backfield.

Two of Warren’s best games were against Kansas when he carried the ball 18 times for 175 yards and two touchdowns. Then there was a 157 yard, one touchdown performance vs. Texas.

Warren finished the 2015 season with 227 carries for 1,339 yards and five touchdowns. Those numbers were good for fourth in the Big 12 and helped him establish freshman rushing records at Iowa State.