Sports: Nebraska still in the hunt for a title

Nebraska still in the hunt for a title

The new season - post-OU loss - continues with today's Big 12 game against Kansas State.

By BOB HARIG

There was a time not long ago in this college football season when today's Nebraska-Kansas State game looked like it might be the game of the year. Oklahoma took care of that -- twice.

There also was a time when Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch was being mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Oklahoma and quarterback Josh Heupel took care of that, too.

Crouch's Heisman hopes might be a thing of the past, but the fourth-ranked Cornhuskers still have a future, even if it has been obscured by the exploits of long-lost rival Oklahoma.

When the Sooners knocked off the Cornhuskers 31-14 two weeks ago, all the attention turned to them. And it was well deserved. They had defeated then-No. 2 Kansas State followed by No. 1 Nebraska. Earlier, No. 10 Texas went down to the Sooners.

With Florida State and Miami bickering over the Bowl Championship Series standings, and Florida poised to jump into the mix if the Gators can defeat the Seminoles next weekend, the Cornhuskers seem all but forgotten.

But they shouldn't be.

A win today over 16th-ranked Kansas State would secure the Big 12 North title and a spot in the conference championship game. The likely opponent? Oklahoma. And what would a win there mean? Maybe the Orange Bowl.

"This is a new season for us," Nebraska offensive guard Russ Hochstein said. "We lost to OU, but we're starting over. We're still in the hunt. All we want to do is beat Kansas State. If we do that, we win the North Division. That's one step down, and it puts us at step No. 2 in the Big 12 championship.

"If we win that one, then it's wherever they place you. We have no control over the rankings or the polls. The only control is to win and to play well."

No, the Cornhuskers do not control their destiny. But they're not that far away, either.

Should Florida State or Miami stumble down the stretch, Nebraska would be in position to play for the national championship in the Orange Bowl with a victory over Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game.

"(Last week) the attitude was really great," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said of his team's 56-17 victory over Kansas, a week after the loss to Oklahoma. "The players were encouraging each other, the intensity was very high. We've taken that first step."

Defeating K-State used to be considered an easy step. The Cornhuskers had beaten the Wildcats 29 straight times before K-State's thrilling 40-30 victory two years ago.

That was the game in which Crouch's head was twisted when K-State's Travis Ochs grabbed his face mask. There was no penalty, but the photo got widespread play.

"I'm thinking about wearing one of those breakaway face masks," Crouch said, joking this week.

The Wildcats no longer are a joke. Until they lost to Oklahoma last month, K-State's only Big 12 losses in the past three seasons came to the Cornhuskers. They have two defeats this season and can't win the national title, but they still can get to the Big 12 title game with a victory over the Cornhuskers.

It seemed the Nebraska of old returned against Kansas. The Cornhuskers rushed for 493 yards, with 562 total yards. Crouch led Nebraska with 127 yards on 13 carries.

The Cornhuskers likely will need to rely on Crouch's arm a bit more today. The Wildcats are ranked fourth nationally in total defense and are limiting opponents to 83.8 yards rushing. Opponents have just 2.3 yards per carry against K-State, and only Texas A&M has rushed for more than 150 yards.

"This game is a much bigger test for us," Nebraska center Dominic Raiola said. "This is a big game, one that could put us back to where we were before Oklahoma."

"The way we came out against Kansas is how we need to come out against Kansas State," Crouch said. "We have to be very physical from the beginning. We knew we had to be. We had worked on picking up the tempo during the week in practice, and we need it to carry over into this week.

"We have to come out and be the same physical team we were last week. We have to execute as we did and put up some big numbers."

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.