LINCOLN, Neb. — A month ago, in the wake of back-to-back home losses, Nebraska’s football season looked to be going south.
Now the Cornhuskers will be happily heading south to the Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas, after Saturday night’s 17-3 victory over Kansas State.
The Huskers (8-3, 5-2) clinched the North Division with their fourth straight win and will play South champion Texas on Dec. 5 for the conference title and a BCS bowl bid.
“We’ve steadily improved and we’ve hung together,” Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. “We were in a tough spot after (losing) the Iowa State game, and everybody wanted to write us off. There’s too much character in the locker room.”
Nebraska will go to the Big 12 title game for the first time since 2006 and fifth time in the league’s 14 years. First, though, the Huskers travel to Colorado to finish their regular season Friday in Boulder.
“There’s not going to be any patting ourselves on the back,” Pelini said. “That’s for another time. We enjoy this win tonight and then get back to work.”
I-back Roy Helu Jr. ran 26 times for 95 yards and a touchdown and went over 1,000 yards for the season. Zac Lee completed 13-of-19 passes for 166 yards and a score. Nebraska’s defense did the rest, holding Kansas State scoreless after the game’s opening series.
The Wildcats (6-6, 4-4), who would have won the North with a victory, ended their season with losses in three of their last four games. Because two of their wins were against lower-division teams, they needed to beat Nebraska to become eligible for a bowl game.
“We made some mistakes that cost a very fine opportunity for our program, our players and our seniors,” K-State coach Bill Snyder said. “I was saddened that we couldn’t deliver on that opportunity, but I was proud of our football team for putting themselves in the position they were in this evening.”
Nebraska won the division title after losing two of its first three games in Big 12 play.
Back-to-back home losses to Texas Tech and Iowa State started a stretch of four games in which it scored a total of four offensive touchdowns.
