In only his second career start, freshman quarterback Jared Barnett needed some help securing a win against Kansas on Saturday.

One week after making the ISU offense look like a well-oiled machine in a 41-7 win against Texas Tech, both Barnett and the ISU offense struggled to earn just 13 points against the Jayhawks.

“I found out that, as a football team, when certain individuals aren’t having the kind of performance that in the past have led us, we can still win football games and be competitive,” said ISU coach Paul Rhoads after the 13-10 win.

Barnett was far from perfect.

He was 16-of-30 passing with an interception. None of his throws found the end zone.

He overthrew receivers in the open field, skipped balls to receivers in the flat and never looked especially sharp. He fumbled once and was sacked another time.

But despite those struggles, Barnett still accounted for 175 yards through the air and another 125 on the ground for a career-best 300 yards of total offense.

“I just had to reset my mind after all the turnovers and make sure that I was ready to lead the team down the field,” he said. “[Kansas] came out ready to play and really made things difficult for us and for me.”

The redshirt freshman from Garland, Texas, became the first Cyclone signal caller to rush for more than 100 yards since 2004, and his 125 was the highest total by a quarterback since Sage Rosenfels’ 140 against Colorado in 2000.

And those numbers came in a game in which the Jayhawks’ defense made a concerted effort to stop the ISU runners, holding James White, averaging 4.8 yards per carry coming into Saturday, to just 38 yards on 10 carries.

“With the game that our running backs had last week, I knew they were going to start spying on our running backs, so that really opened up the zone read for me,” Barnett said. “The O-line was really blocking well, they were really making things easier on me, so I can’t take any of the credit for it.”

Barnett became the fourth Cyclone to rush for more than 100 yards in a single contest this season, following in the footsteps of ISU running backs White, Shontrelle Johnson and Duran Hollis.

Rhoads said Barnett’s similarities to a running back are what sets him apart from the quarterback he played behind for the first seven weeks of the season, Steele Jantz.

“[Barnett’s] got a good eye, and he’s got the ability to make cuts like a running back does,” Rhoads said. “Steele doesn’t, Steele lacks that. He’s fast, and can get from point A to point B, but Jared gives us that added dimension, as a running back carrying the football, and with this offense, that’s pretty important.”

The rookie acknowledged the fact that his play Saturday wasn’t quite at the level of that of a week ago, but after only his second start, he said he was ready for a tough afternoon.

“It happens. Up and downs happen,” he said. “Not every day is going to be easy, and you just have to be ready for when the going gets tough.”