He rumbled more than 90 yards, a stout defender not used to huffing and puffing his way into the end zone.

Bo Ruud? Nah. He’s becoming used to such jaunts.

Shukree Barfield, on the other hand …

“I was tired,” said Barfield, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound defensive tackle. “I didn’t know I’d have to run that far.”

Barfield did, though, warding off the bad guys for Ruud, who returned a third-quarter interception 93 yards for a touchdown.

“I couldn’t even breathe,” Barfield said.

Seemed fitting, considering that catching its breath was among the biggest challenges for Nebraska’s defense Saturday.

The much-maligned Blackshirts were on the field for 102 plays and nearly 40 minutes — or two-thirds of the game.

As if last week wasn’t long enough.

“It was a tough week,” sophomore nose tackle Ndamukong Suh said. “We took a lot of heat, but we responded, and that’s what teams are supposed to do. We have to stick together and make sure we do that all the time.”

The same Nebraska defense that couldn’t stop USC and allowed mid-level Ball State to rack up 610 yards this time responded with key plays in a 35-17 victory against Iowa State.

Dominant? Not really. Iowa State (1-4, 0-1 Big 12 Conference) finished with 415 total yards. Senior quarterback Bret Meyer, particularly effective on slant passes, threw for 281 yards.

And, there was the 17-play drive in the fourth quarter that began at the ISU 3-yard line and ended with a 6-yard touchdown run by Jason Scales.

“You could see we were getting tired,” Cosgrove said. “We’ve got to suck it up. Those things are going to happen. Somebody’s got to make a play in that type of situation.”

Nebraska, though, responded in two areas it had not been effective in this season — creating turnovers and pressuring the quarterback.

The Huskers sacked ISU quarterbacks three times and had five hurries. Entering the game, the Cyclones had allowed three sacks in four games, while the Huskers had collected only three.

“I think we had pretty good pressure,” Cosgrove said. “When you’re throwing picks, the quarterback feels the pressure. That has a lot to do with intercepting the ball.

Ruud’s interception – his second interception return for a touchdown in as many games – was among four turnovers the Blackshirts forced. He also finished with a game-high 14 tackles, one shy of his career high.

Cortney Grixby, who tipped the pass that Ruud picked off, had two interceptions, returning one 41 yards to set up Nebraska’s last touchdown. Ty Steinkuhler also forced a first-quarter fumble.

“I know Bo can run pretty good, but that’s a long way,” Cosgrove said, “especially when you’re playing a lot of snaps.”

Why was the defense on the field so much?

For starters, the offense committed turnovers on each of its first three possessions. One of those series lasted one play.

“We were on the field a lot,” said senior linebacker Lance Brandenburgh, who played sparingly with a high ankle sprain. “I looked at the scoreboard one time in the first half, and time of possession was like 14 minutes for them and like 2 minutes for us.”

That’s true. Nebraska had the ball 2 minutes, 34 seconds in the first quarter.

Later, though, the defense struggled to get Iowa State off the field. Before Ruud’s interception, ISU had run 13 plays in a drive that started at its own 36. The Blackshirts, of course, were back on the field immediately after Ruud’s score, and Iowa State ran six more plays before punting.

That’s 19 straight plays for the defense … and that came before the 17-play drive.

“I thought we responded very well,” Nebraska defensive coordinator Cosgrove said. “I’m just real proud of their efforts, the way they battled back this week through a lot of adversity.”

Good thing the Blackshirts came Saturday with a high energy level.

“Just in the locker room,” Brandenburgh said, “everybody was going, music was loud, coaches were all just slapping us on our ass, just telling us, ‘Get going! Get going!’ Just felt like the energy was up.

“The coaches this game just did a real good job of getting us up. The whole team just seemed like we were really up for this game.”

Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.