COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Phillips Returns, Nebraska Rolls : Big Eight: Tentative tailback gains 68 yards but Green goes for 176 in 73-14 rout of Iowa State.

The game between No. 1 Nebraska and Iowa State was supposed to feature the return of Cornhusker tailback Lawrence Phillips from suspension, and perhaps another good game from Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier. And it did.

But lost in the hubbub surrounding Phillips’ return after seven weeks was freshman tailback Ahman Green. He let everyone know the starting spot is his to lose by scoring four touchdowns and rushing for 176 yards to tie a career high in a 73-14 rout of the Cyclones.

In posting its largest margin of victory all season, Nebraska, 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the Big Eight, scored on its first 10 possessions and led, 20-0, before Iowa State quarterback Todd Bandhauer’s 15-yard scoring pass to Ed Williams in the second quarter.

Nebraska then scored 46 consecutive points. The 73 points were the most ever by the Huskers against Iowa State (3-6, 1-4).

Green scored on runs of 17, 26 and 64 yards. He also had a six-yard scoring catch early in the first quarter to cap a drive that included Phillips’ first action since Sept. 9.

There was loud applause from the sellout crowd for Phillips, a junior suspended Sept. 10 for attacking a former girlfriend. Phillips looked tentative at times, but he finished with 68 yards in 12 carries, including a 13-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that drew a standing ovation.

“I didn’t feel too good,” said Phillips, who sprained an ankle in practice. “I did a few things that were all right, but the quickness and speed are things that if I get a lot of repetitions will come back. But right now, it’s not there.”

Nebraska didn’t need him. The 776 yards gained were the fifth-most in school history. The rushing total of 624 yards was second only to the 677 piled up against New Mexico State in 1982. And for the fourth consecutive game, Nebraska didn’t have a turnover.

Nebraska’s offensive show belonged to Green, who broke the school’s freshman record of 900 yards set by Calvin Jones in 1991. Green has a team-high 997 yards. His 64-yard scoring run in the third quarter was the team’s sixth one-play drive this season.

“He did a great job,” Phillips said of Green. “You can tell he’s been playing the whole season . . . today was a very average performance, so I think Ahman deserves to have the starting spot still.”

Iowa State’s Troy Davis, the nation’s leading rusher, finished with 121 yards in 28 carries.