Nebraska releases a little tension

Exactly one week after the sky fell at Nebraska and seemingly landed right on Coach Bill Callahan, the Cornhuskers made it seem like old times in Lincoln.

You know, running up the score and all.

Nebraska took five weeks’ worth of pent up frustrations and let all out on Kansas State on Saturday in a 73-31 thrashing that became the latest chapter in a bizarre season.

Nebraska became famous for such lopsided victories during its heydays of the 1980s and ‘90s, but this year’s team had been reeling and seemed to be setting school records for futility each time out.

Last week was the capper, a 76-39 loss to Kansas that shoved Callahan one foot out the door. But the beleaguered coach did unto others what had been done to his team. It is believed to be the first time in NCAA history that a team gave up 70 points one week and scored 70 the next.

“I didn’t think about the score,” Callahan said. “We just kept playing.”

Nebraska scored on 11 consecutive possessions and quarterback Joe Ganz set school records with 510 yards passing and seven touchdowns as the Cornhuskers (5-6) ended a five-game losing streak during which they had been outscored 226-98.

“The guys are just sick of hearing about how bad we are, and we just came out and unleashed it,” Ganz said.

But was it too much? Even up 52-10 in the fourth quarter, the Cornhuskers were calling downfield pass plays and went for it on fourth-and-20.

“It’s his job to coach his team,” Kansas State Coach Ron Prince said. “It’s my job to try and stop him.”

Whether or not this can help save Callahan’s job is up to interim athletic director Tom Osborne, the former football coach. But as far as Callahan is concerned, this game should have no more impact on that decision than last week’s embarrassment.

“Sometimes in this game it gets a little crazy and can go either way,” Callahan said. “We’ve been on both sides of the spectrum now.”

That’s offensive

For the second time in two weeks, an NCAA scoring record was broken.

This time, Navy defeated North Texas, 74-62, setting the record for most combined points scored during regulation of a major college game.

On Oct. 27, Weber State defeated Portland State, 73-68, to set the all-divisions record.

The previous major college record was set in a 70-63 San Jose State victory over Rice in 2004.

North Texas led, 49-45, at the half as the teams set the major college record for points in a half. They combined for 63 in the second quarter, also a record.

The previous record for points in a half of a major college game was 76, set by Houston and Tulsa in 1968. The old mark for points in a quarter was 61 by San Jose State and Hawaii in 1999.

More scoring

Appalachian State is best known for upsetting Michigan in Week 1, but the Mountaineers pulled another upset Saturday -- scoring more points than any other team in the nation on a day when Nebraska had 73 and Navy had 74.

The Mountaineers defeated Western Carolina, 79-35. And that wasn’t even a school scoring record. Appalachian State defeated Piedmont, 115-0, in 1936.

Ineligible receivers

The Las Vegas and Bell Helicopter Armed Forces bowls may soon be searching for teams if some in the Pacific 10 Conference don’t win some more games.

The conference has partnerships with six bowls. In order: Rose, Holiday, Sun, Emerald, Las Vegas and Armed Forces.

So far, only Oregon (8-1), Arizona State (9-1), USC (7-2), California (6-4) and Oregon State (6-4) are eligible to receive a bowl bid. Oregon is in position to play in the Bowl Championship Series title game, and if it does, that leaves four teams for six bowls.

Stanford (3-7) and Washington (3-7) have been eliminated from the postseason. UCLA (5-5), Arizona (4-6) and Washington State (4-6) can still get to six victories and become bowl eligible.

If the conference doesn’t produce six bowl-eligible teams, the Armed Forces and Las Vegas bowls would have to go on the open market for a team, with the condition that a 7-5 team must be taken before any 6-6 team.

Blown away

Dozens of former Miami stars turned up to bid farewell to the Orange Bowl when the Hurricanes played their final game at the aging stadium.

Too bad they weren’t in uniform, because Miami could have used the help in a 48-0 loss to No. 23 Virginia.

It was Miami’s first home shutout loss since Oct. 4, 1974, against Auburn, and the Hurricanes’ worst defeat since losing, 66-13, at Syracuse on Nov. 28, 1998.

The last time Miami lost this badly at home was in 1944, when Texas A&M; beat the Hurricanes, 70-14.

“I was feeling like apologizing to everyone here, to everyone affiliated with the university,” quarterback Kyle Wright said.

Miami will move to Dolphins Stadium next season and the Orange Bowl will be demolished.

Tough break

Line judge Paul Petrisko suffered a broken leg and had to be carted off the field after getting caught in a tackle along the sideline during a the Lousiana State-Louisiana Tech game.

The game was delayed more than five minutes while Petrisko was strapped to a stretcher with a stabilizing boot affixed to his lower leg.

Petrisko gave a thumbs-up to the student section as he was wheeled off, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Bulldog mentality

Sylvester Croom has bragging rights on his alma mater.

The Mississippi State coach, a former player and assistant at Alabama, coached the Bulldogs to a 17-12 upset of the No. 21 Crimson Tide, the second consecutive year Mississippi State has defeated Alabama.

The Bulldogs (6-4) were 9-25 in Croom’s first three seasons, but became bowl eligible for the first time since 2000.

They defeated then-No. 14 Kentucky two weeks ago, giving them consecutive victories over ranked opponents.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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peter.yoon@latimes.com