Line: Texas by 14.
Series record: Texas leads 8-4.
Last meeting: 2007, Texas 28, Nebraska 25.
What’s at stake
Texas can lock up a spot in the national championship game, something it had no chance at last year because of a last-second loss to Texas Tech and a tiebreaker formula that kept the Longhorns from competing for the Big 12 title. Coach Mack Brown has used that memory to fuel his team all season. Nebraska can force its way into a BCS bowl and pay back Texas for an upset in the 1996 Big 12 title game, when the Cornhuskers were No. 3 and eyeing a national championship.
Key matchup
Texas QB Colt McCoy vs. Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh. McCoy was voted the Big 12 offensive player of the year and is likely to be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. Suh was voted the Big 12 defensive player of the year and is up for all the top defensive awards. The Cornhuskers will need Suh to hit McCoy early, often and hard to try rattling him into as many mistakes as possible. Nebraska wants to avoid a shootout.
Players to watch
Texas: Receivers Malcolm Williams, James Kirkendoll, John Chiles and anyone else not named Jordan Shipley will need to stretch the defense because Nebraska certainly will do what it can to keep McCoy from hitting his favorite target.
Nebraska: QB Zac Lee is mostly considered a bus-driver type of quarterback, someone who keeps the offense going without doing too great or too terrible. For the Cornhuskers to pull off the upset, he might need to do something special. Nebraska also needs RBs Roy Helu Jr. and Rex Burkhead to grind out yards and chew up the clock.
Facts & Figures
Texas is 6-1 against Nebraska since the start of the Big 12 and has won the last four meetings. … The team have split two Big 12 championship meetings, with the Longhorns winning in’96 and the Cornhuskers winning in ’99. … Nebraska has won five straight, its best streak in Big 12 play in eight years. … The Cornhuskers are 2-0 in Big 12 title games they have played in Texas.
