Iowa State Announcer John Walters Talks 2012 Cyclones Football on Sportsline [AUDIO]

John Walters, play-by-play announcer for the Iowa State Cyclones, joined Steve Dale on Sportsline to discuss the Cyclones' 2012 football season.

Walters said there is a lot of optimism surrounding the 2012 team. Paul Rhodes is returning for his 4th year as head coach, along with many other veterans of the team such as wide receivers Quenton Bundrage and Albery Gary and running backs Shontrelle Johnson and James White.

As for this year's starting quarterback, Walters said it's a dead heat between Jared Barnett and Steele Jance. While Barnett is more of a game manager, Walters calls Jance a more "high risk, high reward," sort of player. Regardless, Walters said that both players bring something good to the Cyclones, and that it's just a matter of who stands out more.

For his prediction of the 2012 season, Walters said the Cyclones are favored in 3 games, but are expecting to win over 6 games. Walters also said that the defense and the secondary line need to be really strong and the offense need to be "explosive" in order to succeed in the Big 12.