Nebraska Hangs On to Keep Streak Alive

Nebraska’s defense stopped Nathan Simmons on the one-yard line as time ran out, giving the second-ranked Cornhuskers a 24-17 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday night at Kansas City, Mo., extending the nation’s longest major-college winning streak to 19 games.

Oklahoma State, seeking its first victory over Nebraska since 1961, faced fourth and four at the Cornhuskers’ 12-yard line with 14 seconds to play. But Tony Lindsay kept the drive alive, hitting Sean Love with an 11-yard pass.

Lindsay then spiked the ball to stop the clock with five seconds left. On the final play, Simmons ran up the middle but was stopped by Mike Rucker and a swarm of defenders.

Nebraska, 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big 12 Conference, took the lead on Joe Walker’s 73-yard punt return with 7:29 left before hanging on to stretch its unbeaten streak against Oklahoma State (2-2, 1-1) to 35 games.

The score was tied at 17-17 before Walker burst upfield through a small opening and bounced off two defenders before cutting back and outracing Oklahoma State’s Trent Alexander down the left sideline.

Walker’s return made up for his defensive mistake about six minutes earlier, when he was burned on a 67-yard touchdown pass from Lindsay to Ethan Howell.

Nebraska, the nation’s second-ranked rushing team with 303 yards per game, managed only 73 yards on the ground.

Oklahoma State moved the game from Stillwater to Kansas City for a $1.3-million payday. It was the first time in the 37-game series that the teams played at a neutral site.

No. 18 Texas A&M; 24, Kansas 21--Dante Hall ran for 177 yards and three touchdowns, the last with 3:24 to play as the Aggies held off the upset-minded Jayhawks at Lawrence, Kan.

Linebacker Dat Nguyen set up two scores for Texas A&M; (4-1, 1-0), which has won its last four games.

Kansas (2-3, 0-3) has not won a conference game since beating Iowa State, 34-24, Nov. 1.

No. 15 Colorado 27, Oklahoma 25--Mike Moschetti passed for three touchdowns, Marlon Barnes ran for a career-high 135 yards and Marcus Washington scored on an interception return as the Buffaloes held on at Norman, Okla.

Colorado (5-0, 2-0) has won its last five games at Norman, dating to 1989. No other visiting team has won more than three in a row at Memorial Stadium.

Oklahoma (2-2, 0-1) lost for the second game in a row despite 134 yards and two touchdowns from De’Mond Parker.

No. 23 Missouri 35, Northwestern State 14--Devin West ran for 176 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers overcame a sloppy effort to win over a Division I-AA opponent at Columbia, Mo.

The game was the first for Missouri (3-1) since losing by an identical 35-14 score to No. 1 Ohio State two weeks ago. Facing Northwestern State (4-1), the Tigers seemed sluggish early and led only 14-0 at halftime.

Texas Tech 31, Baylor 29--After struggling early, running back Ricky Williams ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Red Raiders at Lubbock, Texas.

Quarterback Rob Peters passed for 226 yards and one touchdown and ran for another for the Red Raiders (5-0, 2-0), who are off to their best start since 1976.

Baylor (1-3, 0-2) nearly tied the score in the final minute. Trailing, 31-23, the Bears drove 72 yards and scored on a six-yard run by Darrell Bush. But a two-point conversion attempt failed.