OMAHA, Neb.—Nebraska’s players and coaches say anything less than their best won’t be good enough when the Cornhuskers play unbeaten Texas for the Big 12 championship.
“We have to play perfect defense and we have to play perfect offense, and there can’t be any turnovers and there can’t be any mental lapses,” safety Larry Asante said. “We have to play our best football all year.”
The Huskers (9-3, 6-2) at least have to play better than they did Friday in their scuffling, 28-20 victory at Colorado.
They went into Boulder already having clinched their spot in next Saturday’s conference title game in Arlington, Texas, and turned in what coach Bo Pelini said was one of his team’s worst efforts of the season.
The offense mustered only two touchdowns and 217 yards. The defense allowed a season-high 403 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown on the game’s last play that had Pelini fuming.
“We won the football game, and that’s great,” Pelini said. “But I have higher standards than what I saw. We played inconsistent, sloppy football.”
As much as the Huskers have struggled, especially on offense, they still take a five-game win streak into the championship game. If they upset Texas (12-0, 8-0), they would win their first conference title since 1999, knock the third-ranked Longhorns out of national championship contention and advance to a BCS bowl for the first time since the 2001 season.
The Longhorns won a 49-39 shootout Thursday against rival Texas A&M in their last regular-season game.
A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson ripped through Texas’ defense in a head-to-head battle with Heisman Trophy front-runner Colt McCoy.
Nebraska’s Zac Lee can’t do the things Johnson does. The Huskers’ best chance to win is to keep the score low.
Colorado, held without a first down on its first four possessions, generated 381 of its 403 yards in the last three quarters. Rodney Stewart ran for 110 yards to become the first opposing back to go over 100 this season. The Buffaloes’ touchdown drives went 67, 59 and 80 yards.
“We let too many receivers get wide open,” safety Matt O’Hanlon said. “We have a challenge ahead of us with Colt McCoy.”
Touchdowns on Niles Paul’s 59-yard punt return and O’Hanlon’s 20-yard interception return saved Nebraska. But that wasn’t enough for Pelini.
“That was not our best football,” Pelini said. “I’m happy we won the game—you have to do some things right to win—but I thought we took a step back.”
In the big picture, Nebraska has continued the improvement that began under Pelini last season. Nebraska has won nine games in back-to-back years for the first time since the end of its NCAA-record streak of 33 straight nine-win seasons from 1969-2001.
The Huskers also went 4-0 in conference road games for the first time since the 1997 national championship season.
Asked if his team is ready for Texas, Pelini said, “We’re not ready for anything right now. We have to get ready this week.
“We don’t need to be ready today, we need to be ready next Saturday night, and we’ll be ready.”
