Nebraska Holds Off Colorado

Looking for a lopsided win to impress the pollsters, Nebraska was lucky to win at all.

Ahman Green rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns and No. 2 Nebraska survived a fourth-quarter scare to keep its national championship hopes alive with a 27-24 victory over Colorado on Friday at Boulder, Colo.

“We had a chance to put it away,” Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said. “But at one point there, we kind of lost it and they almost beat us.”

Scott Frost passed for 92 yards and ran for 76 yards and a score as the Cornhuskers, 11-0 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12 Conference, extended their conference winning streak to 39 games. Colorado (5-6, 3-5) completed its first losing season since 1984.

“Sometimes this whole thing with the polls is bad for you,” Frost said. “Early in the fourth quarter, I was hurrying up to get plays in because we wanted to score points. As it turned out, it almost cost us a ball game. We had a fumble and lost an onside kick.”

The Buffaloes, who entered the game as 21-point underdogs, fell behind, 27-10, after a dominating third quarter by Nebraska. The Cornhuskers gained 234 yards in the quarter, had nine first downs and held the ball for 11:05 compared to 3:55 for Colorado.

But the Buffaloes rallied as John Hessler threw two late touchdown passes. The first, good for 32 yards, was to Marcus Stiggers with 3:16 left and the second, after a successful onside kick, was an 18-yard play to Robert Toler with 2:37 left.

Colorado regained possession with 52 seconds remaining, but an offensive pass-interference call on third and 10 against Phil Savoy was costly. Savoy caught a pass on fourth and 25, but was stopped three yards short of a first down.

“There is at least the positive of knowing you fought valiantly, but it’s hollow,” Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel said.

Frost became the 12th Division I-A quarterback in NCAA history to both run and pass for 1,000 yards in a season. With the Big 12 championship game remaining against Texas A&M;, he has 1,016 rushing and 1,036 passing.

No. 15 Texas A&M; 27, Texas 16--Sirr Parker had two seven-yard touchdown runs and Kyle Bryant provided two late field goals as the Aggies (9-2, 6-2) beat the Longhorns (4-7, 2-6) at College Station, Texas, to wrap up outright possession of the Big 12 South championship.

Texas A&M; was in danger of sharing the South Division title with Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.

The Aggies will play Nebraska in the title game Dec. 6 in San Antonio’s Alamodome.

No. 17 Louisiana State 31, Arkansas 21--Kevin Faulk had his fifth consecutive 100-yard rushing game and his 18th consecutive game with more than 120 all-purpose yards as the Tigers (8-3, 6-2) earned a Southeastern Conference victory over the Razorbacks (4-7, 2-6) at Baton Rouge, La.

Faulk ran for 138 yards in 28 carries, had 85 yards in returns and scored two touchdowns to give him 15.

Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner, who threw two 80-yard touchdown passes, was 18 for 38 for 387 yards. That gave him 2,347 passing yards this season, surpassing the record 2,203 by Joe Ferguson in 1971.

Pittsburgh 41, West Virginia 38--Pete Gonzalez’s fifth touchdown pass, coming in the third overtime, gave the Panthers (6-5, 4-3) a Big East victory over the Mountaineers (7-4, 4-3) in the Backyard Brawl at Morgantown, W.Va.

The teams, meeting for the 90th time, combined for 918 yards in total offense.

The victory made Pittsburgh eligible for a bowl, and a loss by Miami to Syracuse today probably puts the Panthers in the Liberty Bowl against Southern Mississippi on Dec. 31.

Amos Zereoue rushed for 151 yards in 41 carries for the Mountaineers.