Wet and windy conditions closed out spring football practice at Iowa State and Iowa. In Ames, the Cyclone defense shined on a gray afternoon as the cardinal squad posted a 30-27 victory despite spotting the reserves 20-points. The defense gives coach Dan McCarney plenty of optimism heading into next season. McCarney feels the defense will be the leader going into next season, especially with the experience they have coming back.Iowa had an hour-long practice and a short, scoreless scrimmage in a driving rain. Spring is a time for individual evaluation and competition for jobs. Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz says that competition will continue in pre-season practices. He says nothing counts until August 30th when they start the fall practice. Ferentz sasy he tells the players to not worry about the other players, just work on their own performance. Rebuilding the offensive line was a major chore of spring. Reese Morgan takes over as the line coach after Joe Philbin joined the staff of the Green Bay Packers.A knee injury to Jermelle Lewis left the Hawks thin at running back but Ferentz expects that to change in the fall. He says there are a lot instances recently where true freshmen have played and played well, so he says it’s realistic that his incoming freshman will play. He says they’ll have every opportunity to play.