Season Would Be Hokie-Dokey With Sugar on Top

BOULDER, Colo. — Leading by 24 points, everything was going according to plan for Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers were on their way to a convincing victory that would bolster their position in the bowl championship series and send them soaring into the Big 12 championship game against Texas next Saturday.

In a matter of minutes, that all changed.

Eric Crouch’s one-yard touchdown run gave Nebraska a 33-30 overtime victory over Colorado, but wasting a seemingly insurmountable lead in a nine-minute span of the fourth quarter could damage the Cornhuskers’ bid for their fourth national title in six seasons.

“There is no more talk of a national championship,” Cornhusker defensive back Mike Brown said. “All the talk is of winning the Big 12 championship.”

Third-ranked Nebraska still has an outside chance to overtake No. 2 Virginia Tech in the BCS standings and gain the right to play for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl against No. 1 Florida State.

Virginia Tech (11-0) ended its regular season Friday with a 38-14 victory over No. 22 Boston College.

“I don’t know where we are now,” said Nebraska running back Dan Alexander, who ran for a career-high 180 yards in 17 carries. “We still have a chance at the Big 12 title. That has been our goal all along anyway.”

Texas is the only team this season to defeat Nebraska, 10-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big 12, and Colorado (6-5, 5-3) came within a couple feet of becoming the second. Jeremy Aldrich’s 34-yard field goal was wide-right as time expired in regulation.

Aldrich made a 33-yard field goal in the overtime, but Alexander had an 11-yard run to set up Crouch’s game-winning plunge off left tackle to give Nebraska its eighth straight win over Colorado.

Nebraska, which reached 10 victories for the 20th time since 1963, led 27-3 heading into the fourth quarter before quarterback Mike Moschetti led Colorado back with three touchdown passes in the final nine minutes.