Upcoming Event: Football versus Southeast Missouri on September 5, 2026 at Noon
Iowa State University Athletics
Spring Breakdown: The Defensive Tackles
03.30.2015 | Football
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State started spring practice on March 3. Cyclones.com will break down each position heading into the spring game on April 11. Today we take a look at the defensive tackles.
The Defensive Tackles
SYNOPSIS
There wasn't a position which suffered more adversity for the Cyclones in 2014 than the interior defensive line. Two starters were dismissed from the team prior to the season and then the injury bug to its toll during the season.
Freshmen were prematurely forced into action and others, like Mitchell Meyers, played out of position to help fill the void.
The good news is that many young Cyclones received valuable experience during the 2014 campaign. Players like Devlyn Cousin (6-4, 302, Jr.#, St. Marys, Ga.), Vernell Trent (6-3, 289, So.#, Jacksonville, Fla.) and Robby Garcia (6-4, 281, So.#, Tampa, Fla.) will be better off in 2015 because of the playing time they received last year.
Cousin started two games, registering 12 tackles, and Trent had three starts, tallying 10 tackles. Garcia, who will miss spring drills with an injury, played in all 12 games, garnering eight stops and 1.5 sacks.
Pierre Aka (6-4, 313, Jr.#, Indianapolis, Ind.) also received his first action as a Cyclone a year ago.
Making upgrades on the interior defensive line was a must in the offseason and the Cyclones hit a home run with the addition of Demond Tucker (6-0, 287, Jr.#, Hazelhurst, Miss.). Tucker was the 2013 NJCAA Defensive Player of the Year and an ESPN JC50 national recruit.
Tucker is already here on campus as a mid-year enrollee and his impact will be felt immediately. Another player preparing to play for the first time is Terry Ayeni (6-2, 278, Jr.#, Toronto, Ontario). Ayeni suffered a knee injury before fall camp a year ago and was forced to redshirt.
RHOADS ON THE DEFENSIVE TACKLES
“It's a position that everybody recognizes as one we need to see improvement in. We're going to have bodies for sure. We're going to have numbers there. We're going to have the addition of a couple of junior college transfers this season, one in the spring in Demond Tucker. He comes in with a lot of accolades as he was the junior college national defensive player of the year as a freshman at Copiah-Lincoln C.C. We're anxious to see the speed and explosiveness that we've seen from Demond on film. We have Vernell Trent, who finished out 2014 as a regular starter for us as a redshirt freshman. It's hard to play in there as a redshirt freshman, but we are hoping that experience will pay off for him. Robby Garcia was in that same boat last year, but will not be able to participate for us in the spring. However, Robby was a guy we were able to count on in the interior tackle position. Terry Ayeni really joins Tucker as a new junior college player, if you will. He came in and had ACL surgery before the season, so we got both Ayeni and Tucker as new players on the inside for us. Devlyn Cousin comes back off of elbow injury and is approaching full strength. Pierre Aka will also help us. We have some depth, but just have to see who can surface as productive players in the Big 12 Conference.”
Players Mentioned
DL
/ FootballDL
/ Football
DL
/ FootballDL
/ Football
DL
/ FootballDL
/ Football
DL
/ FootballDL
/ Football
DE
/ FootballDE
/ Football
DL
/ FootballDL
/ Football
DL
/ FootballDL
/ FootballJaylen Raynor 4_25_26 interview
Saturday, April 25
Zaimir Hawk 4_25_26 interview
Saturday, April 25
Tyler Roehl 2_25_26 interview
Saturday, April 25
Jesse Bobbit 4_25_26 interview
Saturday, April 25
