Nebraska Cornhusker Football vs. Iowa

[KEVIN KUGLER] Good evening, welcome to "Big Red Wrap-Up," I'm Kevin Kugler. It was the kind of dominance Nebraska fans are accustomed to seeing. The Huskers racked up 312 yards of total offense, marching down the field, chewing up big chunks of yardage on the ground, and dominating the Colorado Buffaloes. Then the Second half started and apparently, it started without the Huskers. Nebraska couldn't move the football in the Second half, getting just two first downs and Colorado took advantage. The Buffs scored 24 points in the fourth quarter alone and without a rare miss from kicker Jeremy Aldrich would have completed the comeback and ruined Nebraska's Big 12 title dreams. But Nebraska hung on until the overtime, and as you know, snuck out of Boulder with the 33-30 win. If you think you can take seeing them again, we have the highlights from Friday's thriller in Boulder. Plus, plenty of discussion, I'm sure, about the Longhorns and Huskers in this weeKend's Big 12 title game. We'll also look at the polls and the latest BCS standings. Plus, we'll take a look at the Big 12 and where Big 12 teams might be going bowling this season. Let me introduce our guests. First, Lee Barfknecht from the "Omaha World-Herald." No controversy with the polls.

[LEE BARFKNECHT] It's extremely quiet.

[KUGLER] Also with us is Ken Hambleton. We're glad to have you here.

[KEN HAMBLETON] I want to complain about his polls.

[KUGLER] You are at the right place.

[HAMBLETON] Number 25 is debatable.

[KUGLER] We're glad you are with us, too. It is your chance to tell us what is on your mind even if it is about Lee's polls. Give us a call here in Lincoln at 472-1212 or from anywhere in the world at 1-800-676-5446. Or contact us on e-mail at sports@unl.edu. Tell us your name, where you are calling from, and your question or comment. We start with the Colorado game tonight. If it were not for the fumbles, you might not have recognized Nebraska.

[BARFKNECHT] They had an amazing run with dropping the football. Even if you are a great team, there are times you can get caught in a certain rut. Some good teams have problems with penalties. Some have problems with execution, whether offense or defense. This team is plagued by fumbles. If it stops quickly, they have a chance to beat Texas and win the Fiesta Bowl. If it continues, people better buckle themselves in and get ready for a couple of wild games.

[KUGLER] Is it impressive that they can fumble 18 times and still get two wins in those two games?

[HAMBLETON] Very impressive. The fact they're so generous in the holiday season, that's kind of them to make the games exciting. I think overall, you look at last year, injuries, this year fumbles. Next year, I'm not sure, maybe a bug that eats turfgrass. It makes it exciting for those of us covering the team. It was a boring game. By third quarter people were cheering the mascots and throwing marshmallows at each other. Finally it was a ball game. It leads to excitement. Leads to disagreement, too. I think it will go away as quickly as it came. I thought that five weeks ago and we lost against Texas. It's hard to say what will come.

[KUGLER] The second half was more than just fumbles by Nebraska. Was there anything to be said that Nebraska might have been looking ahead after the first half going easily. Looking ahead to Texas and maybe the Sugar Bowl?

[BARFKNECHT] There was so much talk of the BCS and trying to beat Colorado impressively. I think that had to creep into the kids' minds. You can't get away from it. Everywhere they turned, that's all the talk was about. I think subconsciously it got there. I also think, as I said before the season, Colorado has a couple of pretty good players. Three or four or five or six.

[KUGLER] Redemption for Lee.

[BARFKNECHT] Even before the season, it was a guess. It almost was a lucky guess. Colorado showed a spooky nature over the last few years they could win and lose.

[KUGLER] Let's go to the phones as we welcome Mike from Hickman. How are you?

[MIKE] Good.

[KUGLER] What's on your mind?

[MIKE] I want to know what kind of call that was in the fourth quarter. 1:42 to go.

[KUGLER] You have written it down.

[HAMBLETON] I think it was 1:49 to go.

[MIKE] Obviously we have not been able to hang onto the ball.

[KUGLER] A question that's been on a lot of minds this week. Why the call?

[HAMBLETON] I asked Frank Solich if he would have voted for himself as coach of the year if he knew the play was coming. He said he would not call that play again. The reason he called it was the option worked for a touchdown. Worked for 50 yards, 35 yards, more than 150 yards throughout the day. Option is Nebraska football. You don't plan to fumble. They also thought the way the defense was giving up yards and touchdowns, maybe a field goal is not enough. Is it a great call? Nope, it's not a great call. Alexander lost his relationship with the quarterback on something they practice a zillion times.

[BARFKNECHT] I don't know if I want to know about that.

[HAMBLETON] The ball gets on the ground and here comes Colorado again. Sure enough they score. The thing is-- I guess they didn't score as it turned out. The thing is you go with what worked. Option worked well that game. Nothing worked well in the second half. He figured go to the option again. Belly series would have been nice. Alexander was getting yards up the middle. Willie Miller was getting yards on a fullback trap. Hindsight. There is good calls, bad calls. To say one play makes or breaks the game, it's hard to say.

[KUGLER] Frankly, more often than not, fumbles occurred up the middle as opposed to anything else. It's not like the option was the way the fumble would happen. Maybe the play wasn't such a bad call. Frank Solich was asked about the play at the press conference. Here is what he had to say about looking back at the play call late in the fourth quarter.

[FRANK SOLICH] You know, that play drew a lot of attention. Let me tell you, the first play in the overtime series which doesn't seem to attract any attention to anybody was one that I debated every bit as much as I debated before calling the sprint to the left in the last two minutes. That was a first down pass play. We were down by three points in the overtime period and believe me, a pass play can end up every bit like an option play can end up with the ball in the wrong people's hands. You can get caught for a Second and long which is not what you are looking for there. But I did make that call also and a lot of it comes back to the approach that we decided to take in the game.

[KUGLER] When you are a head coach that makes play calls, you have an awful lot of criticism and you have to level yourself for the praise and have to face or-- the criticism.

[BARFKNECHT] I believe what Ken said, Nebraska is an option football team. You go back to the instincts. You dance with what brung you. If Miami is in that situation, they pass the ball. If Nebraska is in that situation, they run an option play. If Penn State is in that situation, they will probably try to run it up the middle. Depends on what you have done over the years. I think they thought that was the best chance to get the game over with and get it decided in their way. It blew up in their face. That happens.

[KUGLER] How much can you say that really nothing worked in the second half. Nothing had been going for Nebraska. No yards in the Seconds half. Was Frank looking for something that worked in the first half, trying to go back to that and do his best opportunity to gets yards?

[HAMBLETON] I think there was some of that. They buttoned things up, a nice lead. One turnover in the first half. They figured play conservative. Still lost four more fumbles and the game was panicky. He makes a call that is easy to point to and say that's horrible. Isn't that what the game is about, guessing right and guessing wrong. He guessed wrong and still won the game. Once again, I have said it every time I'm on the show, you win a game and you walk out with your head held high and you lose a game and it's like oh. They didn't lose and that's that. Get off one play. Maybe you look at one play in the second half where they didn't get a first down that could have extended a long drive and given the defense a break. There were three times where the defense was off the field for less than a minute. I mean, altitude. That's why the defense wore out. They were simply out of gas at the end. Part of that was the offense wasn't getting-- there were other "bad calls."

[KUGLER] We have business from last week. Last week we didn't get to the answer in our third trivia question. Actually two weeks ago. Name the last team to blank the Buffs and what was the final shutout score. Scott Springer of Lincoln knew the answer was Nebraska. They shut them out in November of 1988, 7-0 in a game that is still memorable in Husker lore.

[HAMBLETON] Flanagan dropped the ball by himself.

[KUGLER] Let's move to new business this week. Tonight's first Big Red trivia question. Be the first correct caller and you will receive one of our Nebraska ETV mugs. One winner per household this season. With his 57.6-yard average on Saturday, Dan Hadenfeldt moved up to number four in the nation in punting with an average of 45.9 yards per punt. Since 1960 only five Huskers have finished in the top 15 in the nation in punting. Who are the five Husker punters to finish 15th or better in the nation in punting? Be the first correct caller and you will receive our Nebraska ETV mug.

[HAMBLETON] Name five punters, period.

[KUGLER] Husker fans are already writing down four by the time you said that one.

[HAMBLETON] You guys are tough.

[KUGLER] This comes from Ken the first part of the year laughing at trivia questions.

[HAMBLETON] They were like what color.

[KUGLER] We start easy and work on down. Tom in Council Bluffs wants to know is there a reason why Nebraska waited until the day before the game to go to Boulder. Did that have an outcome in the game? Maybe go acclimate themselves to the game.

[BARFKNECHT] It's a routine to go the day before. It really doesn't affect you until 7,500 feet anyway.

[HAMBLETON] Bob Brown goes out with devaney and ran the 100 yards and says it is the altitude. Devaney said you would collapse at 100 yards whether sea level or not. You don't want to talk kids into being tired because of altitude.

[BARFKNECHT] I think to get acclimated, you would have to go a week in advance.

[HAMBLETON] Maybe an altitude chamber.

[KUGLER] Talk to NASA and maybe they can get a grant from them. Mike in Hickman and Greg in Plattsmouth want to know why Dahrran Diedrick didn't get into the game. Frank had made a point saying all three I-backs would play.

[HAMBLETON] He was on the kickoff team.

[KUGLER] That's true. Maybe why he didn't play I-back would be the question of the game.

[HAMBLETON] Correll got three carries. Alexander was playing well. It's like why mess with a good thing. He didn't have a fumble until the pitch play at the ends.

[BARFKNECHT] Frank has been known to ride a hot hand at tailback when he was a running backs coach. To get a guy with not so sticky hands out of there quickly and maybe not get him back in. If you have a good thing going, you may as well stick with it.

[KUGLER] It was his best game as a Husker. 180 yards plus rushing. Mike in Lincoln, did Frank Solich coach in the Second half not to lose as opposed to coaching to win. Was coach Solich sitting on the ball early in this one?

[BARFKNECHT] I think that's fair. He won't be the first guy in history of college football to be accused of that or to have done that. Having covered Kansas State games this year, I saw Bill Snyder do the same thing. Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech has done that. They may have obviously shut it down too early or too far. I don't think it's a bad strategy to do that.

[KUGLER] While on the topic, is that something as a coach you learn over the years, the best time to do that? Is that a feel thing that maybe in the second year as head coach, he doesn't quite have?

[HAMBLETON] There's never probably a good time. I think as coaches get older, that window of opportunity for the other team gets shorter and narrower. By the time Devaney or Bear Bryant quit or even Tom Osborne, you worry about the game with two minutes to go. The more you are around, the more you see strange things happen. I think they shut it down. Another reason to shut things down is you are not exposing yourself to the next opponent. You are not risking the ball being loose. You are not just shutting things down because you want to take it easy. You are being more conservative because you want to take less risk. Even though Nebraska lost the ball, the risk factors were much less. Plus, a quarterback with a bad wrist, supposedly could not throw as well. Colorado has two of the best corners in the country. They were smothering Bobby Newcombe. They covered him. I don't think he would be open except on the shovel pass he fumbled.

[BARFKNECHT] Through the first three quarters, Colorado's best chance to score was maybe Wheeler running it down for a touchdown. To avoid, as Ken said, the exposure to risk, it's a sound principle. It didn't executed like they wanted. I don't think you can argue with what they did or attempted to do.

[KUGLER] We have the highlights for you. Let's go to Boulder and see what happened or at least refresh our memories as to what happened. Folsom field the site. Frank Solich trying to get a win against brand new Colorado coach Gary Barnett. He was an assistant there. Dan Alexander on the first play from scrimmage for the Huskers. Very first play of the game. That's impressive. How about this? All the way in dragging him in there 50 yards for the touchdown. A set-up of a new formation. Two tight ends in the set. A touchdown on the first play of the game. Just three minutes later after that score, Eric Crouch right up the middle 35 yards. Colorado came into this one over the last four games allowing around 90 yards in a game. Nebraska with 85 yards in the first three minutes of play. Crouch near the goal line. Dan Alexander into the end zone up the middle. Second touchdown of the day. Four-play, 60-yard drive. Before the folks were in their seats, 14-00 Nebraska with the lead. Mike Moschetti in trouble. Down he goes in the arms of Kyle Vanden Bosch. One of six Nebraska sacks on the day. Didn't seem like that many. Eric Crouch going to work. 19 carries and 123 yards rushing for him. Caught from behind by Ben Kelly. Last time of that day that Ben Kelly catches up from one breaking from behind. Field goal. Nine-play, 62-yard drive giving Nebraska a lead. Then Dan Alexander with an amazing play. A sprinter trying to track down a 245-pound running back. He can't catch him. Outran Ben Kelly to the end zone. Kelly exhausted after that.

[HAMBLETON] He covered a long pass before that.

[KUGLER] Halftime score 24-3. Teams exchange field goals in the third quarter. Then in the fourth quarter, the wheels start to come off for the Huskers. Bobby Newcombe covered like a blanket all day. Fumble on that play. 27-6 Huskers. Mike Moschetti goes to work. Green with five catches, 100 yards as Mike Moschetti starts to heat up. Then Mike Moschetti to John Minardi into the endzone. 27-13. Three-play, 46-yard drive for Colorado. A couple of plays after a roughing the passer penalty on Nebraska, down to the Husker 22 yard line. A couple of plays later on second and goal, a hail mary if it were a long pass. Five Huskers there around Daniel Graham. That 10-play, 80-yard drive with a touchdown u. Husker fans wondering what's going on. Green in the end zone. You can see Nebraska's defense out of gas at this point. Tie game 27-27. Four plays, 56 yards. The buffs tie it up in the fourth quarter. 1:49 left. Nebraska cannot move the ball. A punt. Fumble. Here is the option play we have been talking about. The relationship breaks down. Eight fumbles for the Huskers. That looked like it would cost them the game and a chance for the Big 12 Championship. Jeremy Aldrich lining up for a field goal. Near perfect this year. His second miss all year inside the 40 yard line. Gary Barnett shell shocked. Frank Solich relieved. Nebraska wins the flip in overtime. They elect to go on defense first. Mike Brown makes the call. Husker defense holds on third and one. Field goal good. 30-27 Colorado. Alexander to work again. An 11-yard run down to the Colorado one yard line. On first and goal after that run by Dan Alexander, fitting that the Huskers win on a sneak. They have to sneak out of Boulder with the 33-30 win. 72 total yards for Nebraska in the Second half. That includes the 25-yard touchdown drive in the overtime period. Not an offensive performance in the Second half. They do get the win 33-30. In the end that is what matters most. The Huskers leave Boulder and head back to Lincoln. They go to San Antonio this weekend to take on the Texas Longhorns. Congratulations all around on the Big Red side of the field. A look at the final numbers. Impressive numbers for Colorado. 504 total yards. Most of those in the second half. That's when they made the come back.

[HAMBLETON] More in the fourth quarter than the rest of the game put together.

[KUGLER] Time of possession favors the Buffs. Notice six fumbles for the Buffalos. They lost two of them. That's the difference. If they lost four or five, maybe people are talking more about those fumbles than Nebraska's. Mike Moschetti not a bad quarterback. Lee you said that at the beginning of the season.

[BARFKNECHT] Erratic but talented. At 24 years old, I think people know his story. He played baseball to start. He wanted to make a big impression on his last home game.

[KUGLER] Did Eric Crouch have a problem with his wrist in the second half and will he be ready for Texas?

[HAMBLETON] Yes. The one play where he is run out of bounds, he banged his throwing elbow he said and hurt his left elbow later. He hurt his wrist against Kansas State. He swelled in the first half. He said it bothered him in the second half some. He said yesterday that he is fine. No swelling. He was able to take notes in class was his example of how things are going.

[KUGLER] I don't know if that is good or bad. Roger in Hill City. Here we come with the home remedies. We are fumbling on pitches. Maybe we need to use music to get rhythm. Why doesn't Solich try this? Is that the relationship they're talking about, they need rhythm?

[BARFKNECHT] I mean, I'm sure that Frank and Gilespie have heard every possible remedy for this and are sick of hearing about it. It's like free throws. You work your way into that and you work your way out of it.

[HAMBLETON] He said they tried gloves, glue, somebody sent a ball with a handle on it. They tried hypnosis. I think it's like three-foot putts. There's times when they roll in.

[KUGLER] There are times when they roll in?

[HAMBLETON] I have seen Lee do it. I have never done it. It's a mental thing. You talk about it and it's like don't think about pink elephants and there is the pictures. They will go on. I'm sure they'll have a string some day of no fumbles lost and they'll fall on all the fumbles or not have fumbles.

[BARFKNECHT] Jack Stark was interviewed as the fumble coach early in the telecast. They lost five more after that.

[KUGLER] You had to bring that up. He will not be happy. We go to Scottsbluff for a call. What's on your mind?

[DEAN] I wanted to talk about the BCS rating. I think overall it's a real good thing. The only thing I disagree with is it seems like for a team to Really be in it, they have to run the score up on another team. That doesn't seem right for 19, 20-year-old kids on a team that doesn't have the talent to have somebody run up the score to look good for the computer ratings.

[BARFKNECHT] I think that's a great point. It's an uncomfortable element of that process. Virginia Tech was involved in that last week when playing Boston College. Their fine quarterback was in the game. At the end of the game basically risking injury before going to a bowl game trying to ram in one more touchdown. I guarantee if it was 27-3 like in the fourth quarter, Nebraska-Colorado and Frank had called time outs and trying to score on a touchdown, there might have been a riot. People had to realize what they were trying to do. I think that's a slimy element of that process. I'm not sure how to get rid of that.

[HAMBLETON] A couple of computer guys I talked to that Billingsley says after 10 points it doesn't matter much. Sagarin says after 15 points it doesn't matter much. They're talking about this week, Nebraska needs to win by 22. Maybe they need to make everybody the same and say 10 points or arrive at some number and say 10 points, that's enough. You have handled the other team and you could declare it 14 points but knock it off after that to where you are embarrassing a team or risking injury to a player or you are destroying the competition like Dean is saying here. Maybe just make that a constant factor in all the computer parts and leave it at that. The polls-- the people that vote polls, I don't think they're impressed by 50 points or 40 points or 30 points.

[BARFKNECHT] I don't think there is enough to counterbalance what the computers have factored in. There needs to be a line drawn somewhere.

[KUGLER] We have Howard from Omaha. How are you?

[HOWARD] Hello. Happy holidays to you. Lee, a question on the BCS. I'm not a fond fan of it myself. Are they going to open up the Rose Bowl eventually for teams to play that are ranked high and also couldn't they integrate the top four or five bowls into a playoff with this formula and get rid of backroom politics and give the fans what they want? I didn't realize they were announcing ahead of time that Michigan would go to the Orange Bowl. I thought they made a big thing of one and two and where people would go after that.

[BARFKNECHT] If the-- obviously as has been done over the years, the pac-10 and Big 10 are tied to the Rose Bowl. If those teams are involved in a one versus two game and that is not in the Rose Bowl, that opens spots in the Rose Bowl. There is a chance of Nebraska playing in the Rose Bowl some day. A fantastic place. The thing with Michigan already supposedly being announced going to the Orange Bowl, I blame ABC. They're involved in that. They're heavily involved in what's going on. They're paying $750 million to have the rights to the BCS championship games. There are people who want to pay $3 billion for a playoff. ABC is getting a pretty good deal now. They're going to want to extend contracts with the bowls. If there becomes one window where all contracts expire at one time with television people, then a bidding process for a playoff can happen. If ABC staggers deals with the bowls, it will be difficult to get it away from ABC. ABC, ESPN, and Disney has a tremendous power in that right now.

[KUGLER] First, we need to give a hint to our first trivia question. Maybe it was too tough. Let's look at the first trivia question one more time.

[BARFKNECHT] I can name five guys not on the list.

[HAMBLETON] I could name five punters.

[KUGLER] Who are the five Husker punters to finish 15th or better in the nation in punting? This is from 1960 on. Who might have punted successfully for the Huskers and look in that-- think in that area.

[HAMBLETON] Think of a dentist maybe.

[KUGLER] That's a great clue. That's why Ken doesn't write the questions. His clues are too easy.

[HAMBLETON] You have pledge week coming up. You are trying to make money. Help the folks at home.

[BARFKNECHT] They can donate it back.

[KUGLER] Lee, how come the BCS takes off the 1-AA team off the schedule in mid season? That was a controversy whether to count James Madison playoff games into the BCS formula?

[BARFKNECHT] It's been poorly reported and I can understand why readers and callers are confused about that. In the beginning when they knew there were 1-AA teams involved and this went back to last year when the BCS began, everybody assumed playoff games would not be used because everybody knew the 1-AA playoffs go on beyond when the BCS playoffs are decided. They formalized what they thought they would do all along. It made it sound like they were changing the rules but did not do that. They formalized the policy already in place.

[HAMBLETON] They were close last year. If Indiana State had gone to the playoffs. Kansas State played Indiana State. Indiana State turned out to be not such a good team and didn't make the playoffs. It's not as if it came completely out of the blue. The ruling came along quickly and without a lot of explanation and there were reports out there that there was some bad stuff going on. I guess you have to believe that not all people are dishonest. And also that not all people are trying to get Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama and everybody else in the SEC in the big bowls.

[KUGLER] Do we want to believe that?

[HAMBLETON] If you look at seven teams in the Big 10 bowl game, you know something is goofy there.

[KUGLER] Let's take a look at the polls from this week. We start off with the "U.S.A. Today Coaches Poll." Florida State and Virginia Tech at the top. Nebraska in third. Good gap between Huskers and Florida State. Kansas State at seventh.

[HAMBLETON] Who would put them there?

[KUGLER] Yeah, Lee? Marshall in there. They are at number 11. Texas at 12. A&m at 14. Southern Miss falling to 15. Purdue number 20 at 7-4. In the final five, you see Miami at 24. BYU at number 25. Rose Bowl will have two ranked teams. Florida State, Virginia Tech, Nebraska in the Associated Press poll.

[HAMBLETON] Number four's loss to Cincinnati.

[BARFKNECHT] I have Alabama four.

[HAMBLETON] I know you do.

[KUGLER] There's a disparity between three and four in that poll. Second 10 in the A.P. poll. Marshall again. They say we're 11-0 and enjoying our trip to the motor city bowl. Georgia Tech at 17. Joe Hamilton's year has not gone the way expected. Georgia, Stanford, Miami, Arkansas and Boston College. We look at the BCS standings. You see the big gap that has formed between Virginia Tech and Nebraska. The computer people that are involved in this are saying it's not going to happen, Nebraska cannot get into the Sugar Bowl right now. Their focus had better move to Texas and playing in the Fiesta Bowl. Can Nebraska shift their focus? All season long they seem to have been focused on one goal after losing to Texas. Can they get refocused in team? Is Texas enough focus? Is the Fiesta Bowl enough incentive?

[HAMBLETON] Mike Brown has been saying Nebraska is probably out of it. He said Nebraska is out of it. We need to focus on the Big 12 and go to the Fiesta Bowl and have a good time. That's an accomplishment. He is probably more realistic than 9/10ths of the fans. He is one of the team leaders. Ralph Brown went along with that. Frank Solich says the right words that they want to beat Texas now and go on. I think if the leadership is to be believed, yeah, they can be excited and have a good Fiesta Bowl game and win a title. That's another step up from a year ago where they didn't go to the Big 12 game.

[BARFKNECHT] They'll be focused with the opponent. If Oklahoma State won the South, it would have been a problem.

[KUGLER] Let's get to the first trivia winner. Ken's clue helped. Send your thank you note when you get your mug. Give Ken some kudos as well. Vick of Omaha, Nebraska knew the answer to this question. Who are the five Husker punters to finish 15th or better in the nation in punting. Four in the 1990's. Bill Lafleur, Jesse Kosch, Darin Erstad, Mike Stigge, and Dennis Claridge. I think the one that tripped everybody up was Dennis Claridge. Congratulations to Vick. He gets the mug. A question from e-mail. What bowl is Nebraska looking at? If Nebraska wins, they go to the Fiesta Bowl against Tennessee. They lose, they probably are in the Cotton Bowl 10:00 a.m. January 1, a media specialist's delight against Arkansas.

[BARFKNECHT] Georgia is in the mix, too.

[HAMBLETON] Give me a wake-up call if I'm in Dallas.

[BARFKNECHT] That implies you have gone to bed.

[HAMBLETON] That's true.

[KUGLER] Will Solich have the same game plan with Texas?

[HAMBLETON] I think he wants to win this one.

[KUGLER] Not fumble five times and lose three of them.

[HAMBLETON] They did nice things. They will stick with those. They aren't going to come out and be BYU. They'll stick with things that work. I'm sure they'll make adjustments. You don't suddenly change in one week.

[BARFKNECHT] I think the biggest factor is Texas is the most physically equal to Nebraska in the Big 12. Great big defensive tackles, big offensive linemen. It's not a team Nebraska can count on dominating physically or create one on one match-ups to exploit. That doesn't mean they will try to come out and trick them. It will be a great football game.

[KUGLER] We have our second trivia question ready. Put your thinking caps back on after the first one. Be the first correct caller and you will receive the 16-month Big Red calendar. You can only win once this season. That's what you need to remember. This Saturday's Big 12 championship game marks the second time that Nebraska has played in the alamodome with the first game coming in the Big 12 championship win over Texas A&M in 1997. Texas has also played just once in the Alamodome, notching a win in their only appearance as well. What team did the Longhorns beat in their only Alamodome appearance?

[HAMBLETON] And what hotel did Sonny stay in?

[KUGLER] Be the first correct caller and you receive the calendar. Back to the questions before we get more grief on the questions I have. Who would be favored if Virginia Tech and the Huskers would play on a neutral field? Virginia Tech is a good football game. I would agree with Trev they're the best football team in the country.

[HAMBLETON] You think of a favorite in terms of what would the line be? Nebraska would be favored because of national perception. If you think Virginia Tech could win, you're wrong-- if you think Virginia Tech couldn't win, you're wrong.

[BARFKNECHT] I don't think it's a lock that Florida State will run up and down the field.

[HAMBLETON] Florida State with an average of 12-point, five-point victory. Clemson, Virginia, and Miami. Is that valid, I don't know. There's something to chew on.

[KUGLER] I think there's a perception that Florida State's schedule is so much better than Virginia Tech's schedule. They played James Madison. Each team played one ranked team all season long. Maybe they're getting overlooked in the match-up.

[BARFKNECHT] A mild year in the ACC so I think Florida State got an easy run. They didn't have the premium nonconference schedule as in the past.

[HAMBLETON] The question to ask may be did Virginia Tech save the Big East a BCS spot? There's been talk over the years of the Big East only having Miami. Maybe Virginia Tech being a team that is going to be in there-- I don't know how quick it was coming that the big east would face this showdown but they win a national championship and it bodes well for the conference.

[KUGLER] Jim in Lincoln. Gentlemen--

[HAMBLETON] That's the other show. That's "Backyard Farmer."

[KUGLER] Why did Bobby Newcombe not return any punts? That was a question I had when I was watching the game, too. Didn't see Bobby back there.

[HAMBLETON] They playing punt return safety. They were afraid of fake punts.

[BARFKNECHT] After gary barnett was throwing everything including the kitchen sink out with the opening play of the game, I think they wanted to play it safe.

[HAMBLETON] You want a bad call.

[BARFKNECHT] That was the dumbest call next to Kevin Steele not kneeling with Baylor.

[HAMBLETON] Have you noticed Nebraska had receiver type guys for the opening kickoff in the front line. Why? Because Frank noticed they did that against michigan last year when he coached at Northwestern. So there's a little bit of that there, too, of geez.

[BARFKNECHT] That was a Jim Walden kind of call.

[KUGLER] Let's look at the scores from last week in the Big 12. The final week in the Big 12. Oklahoma with a big win over Oklahoma State. That margin of victory surprised me as Oklahoma State may have nailed it by the time they got down. An emotional week for the aggies. 20-16 in that game. Nebraska in overtime, 33-30 winners over the buffs in boulder. Let's look at the final standings. Nebraska wins the Big 12 north. They beat K-State. Despite identical records, they get the nod in the North division. Colorado 5-3. Kansas 3-5. Remember when things were rosie for Iowa State. Not anymore. Texas in the South division, 6-2 in the conference. Texas Tech and Spike Dykes going out with a win. Doesn't look like he will get a bowl bid. Baylor rounding out the Big 12 standings. We go to Joe in Atkinson. He watched a tape of the Nebraska-Tennessee game when Bobby was a freshman. Did the injury to his knee do permanent damage? Why does he seem like he was a better runner as a true freshman than now?

[HAMBLETON] That guy has done some studying.

[BARFKNECHT] I think any time you have a knee injury, the player doesn't know how he will be affected by it whether conscious or subconscious. The only guy that can answer the question is Bobby and he may not know or may not realize how he is running or how he used to run.

[HAMBLETON] It slowed me down.

[KUGLER] Your lateral movement is not what it used to be. Who is the fashion expert here? Jane wants to know every time we play poorly, Nebraska is wearing the ugly red pants.

[HAMBLETON] That's the road uniform, ma'am.

[KUGLER] I don't think they can mix white with white.

[HAMBLETON] They did. Georgia Tech in the Citrus Bowl.

[KUGLER] Bad memories there.

[BARFKNECHT] One at Oklahoma which was their worst loss.

[HAMBLETON] The all red didn't do well with the sooners either.

[KUGLER] Stick with what they have. Is Dan Alexander despite yardage established himself as a liability? Tough question to answer. I assume because of fumbles.

[HAMBLETON] He may have established himself as the guy, the starter, the go to guy. Heck, all the backs-- Bobby Newcombe has as many lost fumbles as anybody. Eric Crouch has as many as the other guys.

[BARFKNECHT] People have asked questions about the playing time. It depends on how you practice. It really does. Football practice can be one of the most boring things it is. If you are a player, you have to produce in practice. Frank mentioned Dan had a great, great week of practice and would be rewarded for that. He started. First play of the game ran for a touchdown. They road the hot horse. The word liability doesn't come to mind when you think of that.

[KUGLER] We still don't have a winner in the second trivia question. We encourage you to keep guessing. We may have to get a clue from Ken. Is the reason the defense got so tired on Friday because the offense could not move the ball?

[HAMBLETON] Colorado ran 89 plays. That's the most plays run against Nebraska in many moons. You would have to go back to sooner days. That's a lot of plays. They got tired. Like we said, they were off the field barely a number of times.

[KUGLER] Luke in Lincoln, why are the Huskers not using the option pass as much as they used to?

[BARFKNECHT] I guess Frank Solich has to answer that. [HAMBLETON] Maybe it's not open.

[BARFKNECHT] I don't know.

[KUGLER] Barb in Dallas, why didn't coach Solich have the Husker team breathe in bottled oxygen like the pro teams do?

[HAMBLETON] There you go.

[BARFKNECHT] There's not room on the sidelines at Colorado to breathe, period much less with oxygen bottles. I don't buy the altitude thing. The Kansas basketball team didn't have a trouble going to Colorado and scoring 110 points. Nebraska is from 1960-1985 didn't have trouble playing football in Colorado. I don't buy that at all.

[HAMBLETON] I think seriously the defense would have been tired at sea level. The defense was worn out. The altitude maybe had a little effect but they would have been tired on that many plays if playing in Jerusalem.

[KUGLER] What was up with Ralphy's strike?

[HAMBLETON] She apparently was in season.

[KUGLER] There we go.

[BARFKNECHT] That's a relationship we don't know about.

[HAMBLETON] They can't use a he because they get too big.

[KUGLER] This is maybe for "Outdoor Nebraska." [HAMBLETON] Are we on that show, too?

[KUGLER] Should the Big 12 only count North games for the North championship and South for the South championship?

[BARFKNECHT] I think that's the Second or third tie-breaker after the head to head if there's a three-way tie. Technically, yeah, because you don't play the same teams, it's not fair. Big 10 teams don't play the same teams every year. Everybody agreed to it and they voted on it when the conference formed so that's how they're doing it.

[KUGLER] We still don't have a-- an answer and because it is a giving season, I feel the need to offer a clue. The Second question was what team is the only team Texas has beaten in the Alamodome and what year was it? The team received the death penalty. The only team to get the death penalty in college football. That should help. That's an awful good clue. You have to come up with the year. Just keep calling guessing years. It was after the death penalty though.

[HAMBLETON] It was after the original battle for the Alamo.

[KUGLER] Yes, it was.

[BARFKNECHT] Last 145 years. [KUGLER] Steve looking ahead to next year. Are there quarterback recruits for next year?

[HAMBLETON] Not so far. Jammal Lord is waiting in the wings.

[KUGLER] What do you think is the turning point of the Colorado game? In my opinion it was when Colorado turned the ball over in their territory in the first series of the seconds half. Your view?

[HAMBLETON] That was a missed turning point.

[KUGLER] Did that get Colorado's momentum back in the game? [HAMBLETON] I think Mike Moschetti got the momentum back.

[KUGLER] John Bender wants to know via e-mail, which hurt Nebraska more in the BCS, the narrowness of the victory over Colorado or loss to Texas?

[HAMBLETON] Three of the computer guys I talked to said 10 points or more and Nebraska would have been okay. They would have made the move they needed to set up for this week to make another move. Since they went backwards this week, they can't overcome that no matter how they beat Texas, if they beat Texas.

[KUGLER] That's computer guys.

[HAMBLETON] I talked to some strange guys, too. Kenneth Massey is one of them. He asked me how to get tickets to the Sugar Bowl. Jeff Sagarin, I got ahold of him in a bar. He was talking Hoosier Basketball.

[KUGLER] We have a winner in the second trivia question. Let's get to that in a minute but first highlights of Nebraska-Texas from earlier in the season. Nobody expected to see the Longhorns again. For most of the game, everybody expected to see them again. If you remember, Major Applewhite hot in the Second half against Nebraska on October 23rd. 8-9 passing in the Seconds half. Slowed last week in their loss to A&M because of a virus. Chris Simms got the call. Kind of a mixed bag performance from him.

[BARFKNECHT] He is a talented kid. You can tell he had not played much when things were going at full speed. He didn't feel the rush very well and got himself in problems. I'm sure they want Applewhite back at full speed this week.

[HAMBLETON] You had an interesting note on the future of chris simms.

[BARFKNECHT] He said he is staying. He loves Austin and doesn't want to leave. He may sit for two more years before he plays.

[KUGLER] The way Applewhite has been playing, you can't bench him. Defensively, maybe a bit of a surprise this season for Texas. They were more of the question mark. Offensively, the question was how to overcome Ricky Williams. They thought Hodges Mitchell could do that.

[BARFKNECHT] Very young. Their defensive tackles have been outstanding. They have been the guys that set the table to allow the other guys to develop. The Secondary is young. Lee Jackson is a true freshman. A great player for them. They're in the top 10 in the country and have gotten better every week.

[KUGLER] Nebraska with 192 yards rushing against Texas. 237 yards passing. They moved the ball against the honoring Horns but it was the fumbles that cost Nebraska-- Longhorns but it was the fumbles that cost the Huskers.

[HAMBLETON] I think if you look at trends, you might say it wouldn't happen again.

[BARFKNECHT] I know the Texas people are looking forward to playing in a dome because it was windy when they played and they thought it affected the passing game.

[KUGLER] Nebraska will be happy to play on astroturf and the chance to see how quick they can go. You see highlights of that game-- if you can stand to watch them. That was painful for Bobby Newcombe there. Anthony Hicks. Let's take a look quickly as we wrap up the Texas highlights and their schedule. 9-3 on the season. Their loss early in the season, special teams. Second half of the schedule, things look the better until A&M came to town-- actually Texas went to A&M. Problems with the hotel. Didn't get breakfast. Lost 20-16. Back to the questions as we focus on Texas. With A&M beating Texas, does that make Texas a more Dangerous opponent this weekend?

[HAMBLETON] Sure. That's on "Outdoor Nebraska" later.

[BARFKNECHT] The emotions with the A&M situation were so out of the ordinary I think you can't look at anything involving that game. It was so special and so off the beaten path that I don't know, it's just like a blip on the screen and they go on from there.

[KUGLER] We have a winner. Phil knew the answer to this Big Red trivia question. What team did the Longhorns beat in their only alamodome appearance and what year? It was SMU in 1993. Each team has been there one time and each team won one time. How does the BCS poll take into account when a key player such as Applewhite is injured and does not play? Can the computer handle these factors?

[BARFKNECHT] People are getting too hung up on the computers. Computers are one fourth of this. There is polls, won-loss record, strength of schedule. One-loss record comes into account. The guys that vote take that into account, too.

[HAMBLETON] There's only one formula that is public and that's Billingsley's. He may have a thing for Applewhite being sick and not having breakfast an that kind of thing.

[KUGLER] A rough day for Mack Brown and the Longhorns. Frank Solich and others said they were emotionally drained after the Colorado win? Will they have time to recover?

[HAMBLETON] They get five days.

[BARFKNECHT] They're 19 and 20.

[HAMBLETON] I'm ready to go. Play a game. My fingers are ready.

[KUGLER] The knee is sore but he will be ok. Scott in Omaha, if Nebraska wins against Texas and goes to the Fiesta Bowl? Does Florida have to win in the SEC championship game?

[BARFKNECHT] It's the Florida-Alabama winner that goes into the BCS mix and would go to the Orange Bowl. There's a chance Florida could be left out. I'm sure Tennessee will be in as an at large team.

[KUGLER] Why was Tennessee ranked two with one loss and Nebraska was not? Two unbeaten teams ahead of Nebraska at this point. That's why Nebraska would not be ranked ahead of Florida State or Virginia Tech. It comes down to that essentially.

[BARFKNECHT] Right.

[KUGLER] There you go.

[HAMBLETON] Way to go, Kevin.

[KUGLER] I will field these every once in a while. We are about out of time. We have covered a lot tonight. Colorado, Texas, recruits, whether they should wear red pants. We're glad you have been with us. Let me thank my guests as well, from the "Omaha World-Herald," Lee Barfknecht, and from the "Lincoln Journal Star," Ken Hambleton. Join us next week. We will be here to wrap up the Big 12 championship game on "Big Red wrap-up." Good night, everybody.