Iowa State’s Joey Petersen (52), Jarrod Hufford (54) lift the Cy-Hawk trophy as teammate Tyler Miller (66) walks alongside them after defeating Iowa Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. © Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK
AMES — Iowa State senior offensive tackle Tyler Miller dutifully donned his “Flow with Rocco” T-shirt for Monday’s media availability.
That’s the Cyclones’ QB1 depicted on the garment, after all.
“Let people know (to) get his merch,” Miller said of soon-to-be third-year starting quarterback Rocco Becht. “It’s a great shirt.”
It also makes sense. An offensive lineman’s best friend is his quarterback — and vice versa. Miller, a 6-9, 330-pound earth mover from Scranton, enters the 2025 season as ISU’s most experienced lineman with a team-leading 38 career starts. Becht, a junior, is tied with Miller for the team-high in consecutive starts with 27. So while they’re not joined at the hip, they are fully connected from spring ball through fall camp, through weekend game days and each whistle in between.
“When we have a guy like Rocco in the backfield you want to do everything you can to keep that guy (upright) and healthy,” said Miller, one of four returning returning Cyclone offensive linemen with 13 or more career starts. “If you give him time and opportunities, he’s gonna do great things for our team, so, like he said, we’d probably die for Rocco.”
“He” is third-year ISU offensive line coach and run game coordinator Ryan Clanton. And the “die” part may be hyperbole, but it does speak to the deeply symbiotic relationship Clanton’s sought to establish with everyone on the Cyclones offense, not just his position group.
“We all have a lot of respect for the running backs and the tight ends and how they play, and they pride they (also) take in keeping the quarterback clean,” said Clanton, whose line has ranked among the top 20 nationally in sacks allowed the past two seasons. “But what Rocco does that I think is really good, is he gets the ball out on time. He knows what’s going. He is truly in command of the whole offense and that’s cool to see.”
Clanton’s also been pleased to help build the depth that can form a true rotation on ISU’s offensive line. The Cyclones lost standout tackle Jalen Travis and stalwart center Jarrod Hufford to graduation last season — and both nurture varying degrees of NFL hopes — but with Miller back, along with versatile contributors such as James Neal, Brendan Black and Dylan Barrett, hopes remain high in the O-line room. The 6-6, 330-pound Neal even took the field at tight end occasionally last season, which helped deepen his knowledge of the offense as a whole.
“It opened my eyes to the whole scheme of the field, not just what I’m doing,” Neal said. “Knowing what the tight ends have going on and even (that) leaked into the wide receiver and what they have going on, it really did open up my mind.”
The Cyclones’ front men on offense seek to open more eyes via their “violent and versatile” approach to the game, but that mentality needs to permeate every rep, every possession, every moment of pad-popping action in practice and games.
“I’ve always believed that the O-line sets the tone for the game and that’s my challenge to them,” Clanton said. “I think that they’re there now and that’s a pretty cool thing to see.”
How will that translate into games after last season’s program-record run to 11 wins? That remains uncertain, but Clanton’s convinced his group has matured enough mentally and physically to turn its focus inward, meticulously tackling minor details and exacting techniques.
“We never have to ask them to work harder, or be more violent, or whatever — run faster, hit harder,” he said. “It’s just what they do. And credit to our defense. Practicing with those guys, if you are slow, you’re gonna get lit up pretty hard. So you can’t really take those moments off. It’s not just plays, it’s moments.”
Which brings them back to the “Flow with Rocco.” Consider it a true feel for the game rooted in the dirty work done behind the scenes.
“We have a standard when it comes to our individual drills,” Miller said. “You’ve gotta do it right. And if you don’t do it right, you’ve gotta do it again until you do it right.”
