Nebraska

Colorado's Darian Hagan watched with one eye open and one eye closed. There were six seconds left in the football game of his life, and he wasn't sure what to do. Watch or not watch. But curiosity got the best of Hagan, and as Nebraska quarterback Gerry Gdowski set up to throw, Hagan opened his other eye. As Cornhuskers split end Jon Bostick streaked 42 yards into the end zone, Hagan's eyes widened. When Gdowski's pass arced down toward Bostick's arms, Hagan's eyes almost popped out of his head.

Quarterback Steve Taylor sneaked 1 yard for a touchdown, capping an 80-yard march with the opening kickoff, and Nebraska ended four years of frustration by defeating Oklahoma, 7-3, yesterday in Norman, Okla., for the Big 8 championship and a berth in the Orange Bowl. The Cornhuskers (No. 7 AP and UPI) won their first outright crown since 1983 by shutting down Oklahoma's vaunted wishbone and holding the Sooners (No. 8 AP, No. 9 UPI) to 137 total yards and only 98 on the ground. Oklahoma came in as the nation's fourth-best rushing team, averaging 367.9 yards a game.

Sam Crawford, who leads the nation in assists, turned the Carrier Dome into his personal playground last night, dishing out 16 assists, knocking down deep three-pointers, smiling as he watched his New Mexico State Aggies teammates dunk all over Nebraska (20-11) during a 93-79 first-round East Regional victory. This game was strictly about entertainment. There was little serious defense. And Crawford aside, no real superstars, either. Nebraska's top scorer, Ed Piatkowski, from Rapid City, S.D., can't even claim to be the star of his own family.

The Big Eight Conference has been the Big Dud in college football so far this year. The winner of today's game between No. 9 Nebraska and No. 15 Colorado will have a pretty good shot at an Orange Bowl trip. And outside of Boulder, Colo., and Lincoln, Neb., nobody seems to care. Nebraska (6-1 overall, 3-0 conference) has been clobbered this season, at home no less, by Washington. Colorado (5-2, 3-0) also was handed an embarrassing home loss, by Baylor. No Big Eight team is going to be in the national-title picture, and that reduces the Orange Bowl to second-class status this season.

Dustin Almond threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Young with 7 minutes, 47 seconds left and Southern Mississippi made a defensive stand in the final minutes to preserve a 21-17 victory over mistake-prone Nebraska yesterday in Lincoln, Neb. Southern Miss (1-0) converted four of Nebraska's five turnovers into points and came from behind after seeing its 9-3 halftime lead evaporate quickly in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles became the first nonconference opponent since Washington in 1991 to beat Nebraska (1-1)

Two former all-South Jersey baseball players are playing as freshmen at the University of Nebraska. Sean McKenna, a catcher out of Gloucester Catholic High, has played in 19 of the Cornhuskers' first 30 games, batting .259 with two home runs and 10 RBIs. Joe Shapley, a graduate of Gloucester High, has started five games as Nebraska's designated hitter and compiled a .208 batting average with one home run and four RBIs. He has also has made two pitching appearances, going 1-1 with nine strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings.

CHICAGO - Forget, for once, the annual regular season-ending blood feud between Ohio State and Michigan. The Buckeyes and Wolverines go at it on Nov. 26 in Michigan Stadium, with first-year coaches at the helm for the first time since 1929. But the bowl-ineligible Buckeyes are in the NCAA doghouse and the Wolverines are coming off the nightmare of the 3-year Rich Rodriguez coaching experiment, during which the winningest program in the history of college football went 15-24, including 6-18 in the Big Ten. No, the Big Ten game of the year in 2011 figures to be the Oct. 1 scrum in Camp Randall Stadium between two red-clad heavyweights that, in certain ways, are mirror images of one another.

Joe Dailey became the first Nebraska quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown passes, and the Cornhuskers bounced back from the worst loss in their history to beat Baylor, 59-27, yesterday in Lincoln, Neb. Dailey completed 13 of 20 passes for 342 yards, breaking the record of 297 yards set by Dave Humm against Wisconsin in 1973. Dailey threw touchdowns of 27 and 45 yards to Isaiah Fluellen in the last 1 minute, 21 seconds of the first half to give the Huskers a 31-3 lead.

Nebraska kept its national championship hopes alive - barely. Ahman Green rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns, and the second-ranked Cornhuskers survived a fourth-quarter scare to beat Colorado, 27-24, yesterday. Scott Frost passed for 92 yards and ran for 76 yards and a score as the Huskers (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. If Nebraska beats Texas A&M in the Big 12 championship game next Saturday, the Huskers will play in the Orange Bowl with a shot at their third national title in four years.

Camden Catholic righthander Jonathan George, considered among the best major-league-baseball prospects in the region, has accepted a baseball scholarship at Nebraska. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior made an oral commitment last night. George is expected to have another decision in June during the major-league draft. With a fastball that has been consistently clocked above 90 m.p.h., he is considered a potential choice in the top five rounds. For now, he's happy to have his college decision made.

Jordan Burroughs is one of the biggest names in wrestling, but outside his sport he lives an athletic existence in relative anonymity. A 2006 graduate of Winslow Township High in Camden County, Burroughs is a world champion, and he doesn't have to worry about getting mobbed by well-wishers and autograph-seekers when walking the street in most locations. "Outside of wrestling fans, I would say I get recognized a small amount," Burroughs said in a phone interview from the University of Nebraska as he prepared for this weekend's Olympic trials at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had 25 points and 11 rebounds to help keep No. 13 Michigan in the Big Ten title race with a 72-61 win over host Illinois on Thursday night. Trey Burke added 21 points for Michigan (22-8, 12-5), which led throughout. Illinois (17-13, 6-11) closed to within 40-39 with just over 15 minutes left. But the Illini missed three chances to tie the game or take a lead. The Wolverines stretched the lead to 53-44 with 7 minutes, 49 seconds to play and Illinois was never close again.

IN THE 2009 football season, Zaire "Bam" Anderson was mostly a fullback for Frankford High, and his college prospects were dim and dimmer. Ah, but he'd also started in two games at linebacker - starred, even - and he began to think, "I like this position better anyway. Let's see where it can take me. " Then came yesterday. The 6-1, 220-pound Anderson, rated way up there on national prospect lists for junior-college players, signed a letter of intent with Nebraska. He'd spent two seasons playing for Riverside Community College, in California and fended off other schools since making an oral commitment in October.

Maggie Lucas scored 24 points to lead five Nittany Lions in double figures as visiting Penn State overwhelmed No. 15 Nebraska in the second half to take a 93-73 win in Lincoln on Sunday afternoon. Penn State (13-4, 3-2 Big Ten) trailed by six at half, but then came out strong, holding the Cornhuskers (15-2, 4-1) to just two field goals in the first eight minutes after the break. The Huskers cut the lead to eight on a pair of Jordan Hooper free throws with 10 minutes, 30 seconds left.

Eli Carter scored 14 points, Dane Miller added 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Rutgers crushed reeling Pittsburgh, 62-39, on Tuesday night. The Scarlet Knights (10-7, 2-2 Big East) held the Panthers to 21 percent shooting (12 of 57) while sending host Pittsburgh (11-6, 0-4) to its fifth straight loss, the longest losing streak in coach Jamie Dixon's nine years. Marquette 83, St. John's 64 - Davante Gardner had career bests with 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead the No. 25 Golden Eagles (13-4, 2-2 Big East)

Timber Creek football star Quanzell Lambert has narrowed his college choices to Iowa, Nebraska, and Rutgers, and will announce his decision at 2 p.m. Thursday, Chargers coach Rob Hinson said. Lambert, an all-South Jersey linebacker who led Timber Creek to a 12-0 record this past season, previously had considered Alabama, Oklahoma, and Northwestern, among other top programs. The 6-foot-2 240-pounder probably is South Jersey's most highly recruited player. Lambert missed nearly three full games with an ankle injury this past season but still led Timber Creek with 94 tackles, along with four forced fumbles and four sacks, as the Chargers won the South Jersey Group 3 title.

LINCOLN, Neb. - Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska said Tuesday that he would retire rather than seek a third term next year, dealing a significant setback to Democratic efforts to keep control of the chamber. The 70-year-old conservative Democrat, whose seat is being heavily targeted by Republicans in 2012, said in a statement that "while I relish the opportunity to undertake the work that lies ahead, I also feel it's time for me to step away from elective office, spend more time with my family, and look for new ways to serve our state and nation.

1. LOUISIANA STATE (10-0) def. W. Kentucky, 42-9 Next: at Mississippi Saturday 2. OKLAHOMA STATE (10-0) def. Texas Tech, 66-6 Next: at Iowa State Friday 3. STANFORD (9-1) lost to Oregon, 53-30 Next: vs. California Saturday 4. ALABAMA (9-1) def. Mississippi St. 24-7 Next: vs. Georgia Southern Saturday 5. BOISE STATE (8-1) lost to TCU, 36-35 Next: at San Diego State Saturday 6. OREGON (9-1)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The saddest and strangest week in the history of not just college football, but colleges period, ends Saturday with an actual game. However, not one person knows for sure what to expect when Penn State and Nebraska meet at Beaver Stadium with the wreckage caused by the child sexual-abuse scandal still smoldering. It wasn't that long ago that everyone was looking forward to watching the Nittany Lions try to remain unbeaten in the Big Ten Conference and maintain their lead in the Leaders Division.