There were several tense moments during Iowa State’s 17–10 win over Colorado on Saturday, and it seemed that the Colorado offense was to blame for most of the Cyclones’ anxiety.

At every turn, though, Iowa State’s (6–5, 3–4 Big 12) defense came up with the necessary plays to get Colorado (3–7, 2–4) off of the field and preserve their lead.

“We certainly came ready to play today,” coach Paul Rhoads said. “We were more like the 2009 Iowa State Cyclone football team today.”

Early in the first half, Colorado had the ball at the ISU five yard line after an Austen Arnaud interception. However, on fourth and goal from the one, the Buffaloes were stopped short of the goal line by senior linebacker Jesse Smith, preserving the Cyclones’ 7–0 lead at the time.

“You don’t turn down a chance for a momentum boost and that certainly provided that,” Rhoads said. “That provided it, not only for our defense, but for our entire football team. There was a great surge, a great push and a great finish to the play.”

The defense would keep that momentum going throughout the remainder of the game, stopping the Colorado offense nearly every time it mounted a threat.

In all, the Cyclones’ defense forced four Colorado three-and-outs, as well as holding the Buffaloes to just one field goal in their four trips into the red zone, including the first quarter’s goal-line stand.

“Red zone defense … outstanding,” an enthusiastic Rhoads said after the game was finished. “Huge difference in the football game.”

Third down defense was also impressive for the Cyclones, as they allowed Colorado to only convert on two of its 14 tries on the game.

Colorado did all they could to help out the Iowa State defense, though, turning the ball over three times — all of which came in the second half.

“We just emphasized making turnovers and just played our game,” said junior safety David Sims, who forced the two fumbles Colorado surrendered. “That was good. Any way to help us.”

And Colorado did help.

Aside from the three turnovers, the Buffaloes also missed a field goal that came after two 15-yard penalties on offensive lineman Bryce Givens that pushed them out of the Iowa State red zone.

Those two penalties weren’t the only ones for Colorado, though. Several drives unraveled for the Buffaloes thanks to them committing 11 penalties for 110 yards.

“We just capitalized off of their mistakes and that’s why we were so successful on defense today,” cornerback Leonard Johnson said. “We were put in a position where we had to come out fighting and that’s what we did.”

Although Colorado racked up 390 yards of offense in the game, it was a much-improved effort from an Iowa State defense that had allowed 487 yards per game in its previous two games, both losses.

“It feels really good. Those two weeks it wasn’t us,” Sims said. “We’ve still got some work to go but we still played our game.”

Along with allowing 487 yards per game in the previous two games, the defense yielded 35 and 34 points in losses to Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. Those numbers, still, were a vast improvement from the team’s performances in Big 12 play in 2008 in which they allowed a staggering 40.5 points per game, including 38 points to Colorado and a season low of 28.

“It’s been one of our highest priorities all season long. We gave up way too many points last year,” Rhoads said. “You can give up yards, and were 10th, 11th or 12th in total defense in this conference, but we give you everything that we have every week and we make them earn all 100 yards and we make them work to cross the goal line.”

Rhoads credited his team’s smart play and communication on the field for the turnaround.

The coach commended the defense for not just its communication, but its accurate communication and how it allowed it to make the plays necessary to get off of the field.

“I don’t ever undervalue playing smart. We did today as a football team,” Rhoads said. “There was a lot of pointing, there was a lot of talking … That was a defensive football team that played extremely well.”

Offensively the Cyclones again struggled to finish on long drives.

For the fourth-straight game the ISU offense has not scored more than 20 points after scoring 26.4 points per game in their first seven.

“[We played] the same as we always have: inconsistent,” running back Alexander Robinson said.

Robinson, however, has been the most consistent performer for the Cyclones’ offense all season. The junior racked up 138 yards against Colorado, his fifth 100-yard effort of the season, putting him over 1,000 yards on the season, the first ISU running back to go over 1,000 yards since Stevie Hicks did it in 2004.

“If there was one player that was on a mission today, it was Alexander Robinson,” Rhoads said. “If you could’ve seen the look in his eye after last week’s game, if you could’ve seen him sit in his locker until everybody was gone — not sulk, but prepare for this football game — you’d understand the competitor that we have and the leader that we have in him as a football team.”

Even with the struggles, though, Rhoads and the offense felt they took steps forward and the coach called the game “a complete team victory.”

Rhoads also said the offense did enough to win, but the credit fell, ultimately, back to the defense and its stellar effort for the rebound after two tough losses.

“We didn’t play good football the last two weeks, we needed to come out and win this week,” Sims said. “That wasn’t Cyclone football, so we had to turn things around.”