Nebraska Slips By Colorado
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 stubborn Colorado on Friday in Boulder, Colo.
Scott Frost passed for 92 yards and ran for 76 yards and a score as the Cornhuskers (11-0, 8-0 Big 12) extended their conference winning streak to 39 games.
Colorado (5-6, 3-5) completed its first losing season since 1984.
The Buffaloes, who entered the game as 21-point underdogs, fell behind 27-10 after a dominating third-quarter by Nebraska. The Huskers gained 234 yards in the period, had nine first downs and held the ball for 11:05 compared with 3:55 for Colorado.
But the Buffs rallied as John Hessler threw two late TD passes - a 32-yarder to Marcus Stiggers with 3:16 left and, after a successful onside kick, an 18-yarder to Robert Toler with 2:37 left.
Frost became the 12th Division I-A quarterback 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 yards and 1,036 passing yards.
The Huskers need a victory in that game to be assured of a spot in the Orange Bowl, where they have a shot at their third national championship in the past four years. Top-ranked Michigan will play No. 10 Washington State in the Rose Bowl.
Hessler completed 19 of 35 passes for 362 yards.
(15) Texas A&M 27, Texas 16
In College Station, Texas, Sirr Parker had two 7-yard touchdown runs and Kyle Bryant provided two late field goals as the Aggies defeated the Longhorns to win outright possession of the Big 12 South championship.
The Aggies (9-2, 6-2) were in danger of sharing the South Division title with Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
Beating the Longhorns sends the Aggies to the conference title game against Nebraska Dec. 6 in San Antonio’s Alamodome on a positive note.
The Longhorns (4-7, 2-6) upset the Cornhuskers in last year’s title game but finished 1997 with a disappointing season in what may have been John Mackovic’s final year as coach.
Ricky Williams, the nation’s leading rusher, finished with 183 yards on 33 carries for Texas. He broke Earl Campbell’s single-season school rushing record of 1,744 yards, finishing with 1,893 yards.
(17) LSU 31, Arkansas 21
In Baton Rouge, La., Kevin Faulk had 223 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and the LSU defense shut out Arkansas in the second half as the Tigers closed out their regular season with a win.
Faulk ran for 138 yards on 28 carries. He had 85 yards on returns.
LSU (8-3, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) stretched a 24-21 halftime lead on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Herb Tyler to Kendall Cleveland in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the defense shut down Arkansas in the second half.
Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner, who threw two 80-yard touchdown passes, completed 18 of 38 for 387 yards. That gave him 2,347 passing yards this season, besting the 1971 record of 2,203 by Joe Ferguson.
The Razorbacks (4-7, 2-6) finished with their fifth loss in six games. The late-season slump gave coach Danny Ford a 26-30-1 record in five years at Arkansas. His job reportedly is in jeopardy.
xxxx TOP 25 AT A GLANCE vs. opp. Team Rec T25 Rec. Today/time Quick kicks 1. Michigan 11-0 6-0 63-48 finished reg. season 1 win for national title 2. Nebraska 11-0 2-0 49-53 d. Colorado 27-24 Osborne 21-3-1 vs. Buffs 3. Tennessee 9-1 2-1 63-34 vs. Vandy, 9a 14 str wins over Vandy 4. Penn St. 9-1 3-1 53-50 at Mich. St, 10a Enis 7 str 100-yd games 5. Florida St. 10-1 4-1 63-44 finished reg. season Taylor & Green too much 6. UCLA 9-2 2-1 59-48 finished reg. season Best win strk since ‘73 7. Florida 9-2 3-2 68-37 finished reg. season Gators tough in Swamp 8. N. Carolina 10-1 1-1 51-57 finished reg. season 5 INTs vs. Duke, 2 by Bly 9. Ohio St. 10-2 2-2 62-58 finished reg. season Cooper can’t beat Mich. 10. Wash. St. 10-1 2-1 53-55 finished reg. season First Roses since 1931 11. Kansas St. 10-1 1-1 56-52 finished reg. season Last won 10 in 1910 12. Ariz. St. 8-3 3-1 52-48 lost to Ariz. 28-16 3-7-1 last 11 vs. Wildcats 13. Auburn 9-2 2-1 68-36 SEC title game, 12/6 Clinched SEC West 14. Georgia 8-2 1-2 58-39 SEC title game? Rooting for Vanderbilt 15. Tex. A&M 9-2 2-1 44-57 d. Texas 27-16 8-3 last 11 vs. Longhorns 16. Syracuse 8-3 2-1 53-56 at Miami, 12:30p 1 win from Big East title 17. LSU 8-3 1-1 52-46 d. Arkansas 31-21 16-2-1 vs. Ark since 1930 18. Purdue 8-3 2-2 57-54 finished reg. season Won Old Oaken Bucket 19. Missouri 7-4 1-3 57-51 finished reg. season Best rnk since 11-14-83 20. Colo. St. 9-2 0-1 54-60 WAC title game, 12/6 Clinched WAC Pacific 21. Washngtn 7-4 2-3 67-41 finished reg. season Lost 3 str in Pac-10 22. Miss. St. 7-3 1-2 53-45 v. Ole Miss, 12:30p Sherrill 4-2 vs. Ole Miss 23. So. Miss. 8-3 0-3 50-58 finished reg. season Headed to Liberty Bowl 24. Air Force 10-2 1-0 63-59 finished reg. season Most wins since 1991 25. Okla. St. 8-3 1-1 46-64 finished reg. season Best season since 1988