Nebraska Wins It With Defense : Big Eight: Oklahoma offense unable to do much and top-ranked Cornhuskers improve to 12-0 with 13-3 victory. Frazier sits it out.

Oklahoma’s defense played well enough to defeat No. 1 Nebraska and send Coach Gary Gibbs out a winner in his last regular-season game.

But the Sooners’ offense had to go against an even better defense. The Cornhuskers dominated Oklahoma in the second half Friday and won, 13-3, setting them up for another shot at the national title.

There was talk before the game that, if needed, Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier could play for the first time since Sept. 24. But Brook Berringer played just well enough and the defense made sure Frazier could keep his jacket on, making 10 second-half points seem like twice that many.

“I was real proud of our defense, I thought they really carried the day,” Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said. “I looked at Tommie a few times. It was nice insurance to have him on the sideline.”

In winning its fourth consecutive Big Eight title, Nebraska, 12-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference, held Oklahoma to 47 yards in the second half and no first downs in the fourth quarter.

The Cornhuskers’ next game is Jan. 1 in the Orange Bowl, where they lost the national title to Florida State last season.

Oklahoma (6-5, 4-3) played its best defensive game of the year in Gibbs’ regular-season finale, holding Nebraska to its lowest point total of the season. The Sooners are expected to play in the Copper Bowl.

“We knew it was going to be low scoring,” said Gibbs, who announced his resignation Monday. “You have to credit Nebraska because they controlled the ball so well.

“A game like this comes down to a few good plays and Nebraska is the one who made those plays.”

The biggest one came late in the third quarter. With the Cornhuskers facing third-and-10 at their 43, Berringer passed to Abdul Muhammad for a 44-yard gain to the Sooner 13.

Three plays later, Berringer scored on a one-yard sneak to make the score 13-3.

“We caught ‘em in man-to-man coverage,” said Berringer, who completed 13 of 23 for 166 yards. “I threw it where I was hoping he was going to be, and that’s where he ended up.”

Nebraska gave up 132 yards but only the one field goal in the first half, then contained Oklahoma in the second.

But Nebraska’s powerful offense didn’t exactly have a field day, either. The Cornhuskers, who average 358 yards rushing and 494 overall per game, wound up with 136 on the ground and 302 overall.

Nebraska gained only 63 yards in the first half and didn’t make a first down in the second quarter. The Cornhuskers failed on a fake field goal early in the game and were hurt by inconsistent passing by Berringer, who also was sacked three times in the first half.