Nebraska was bidding to become just the 12th team to make it to the NCAA tournament unbeaten. Griffin, the Big 12 player of the year and catalyst behind the only undefeated regular season in Big 12 history, had three fouls at halftime and got saddled with her fourth early in the second half.

With the 6-foot-2 senior sitting long-faced on the bench for several minutes at a stretch, the Huskers (30-1) could not stop their school-record winning streak from coming to an end.

Top-ranked UConn (33-0) is the only unbeaten team heading to the NCAA tournament.

-No. 12 Oklahoma 74, No. 20 Oklahoma State 69
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Danielle Robinson and Amanda Thompson hit big free throws in the final seconds, lifting Oklahoma past Oklahoma State and sending the Sooners into the Big 12 title game against Texas A&M.

Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State’s streaky 5-foot-5 senior, made six of her first seven shots but missed her last nine and wound up with 32 points — giving her a tournament-record 112 in just three games.

The victory gave the Sooners (23-9) a three-game season sweep of the Cowgirls (23-10) and pits them against an Aggies team that handed Nebraska its first loss of the season in the other semifinal. A&M and Oklahoma split two games in the regular season.

Robinson had 19 points for the Sooners, Thompson 17 and Nyeshia Stevenson 15.

Clemente matched his season high with five 3-pointers, including three straight early in the second half to break open the game.

Kansas State (18-4, 5-3 Big 12), coming off Saturday’s 81-79 overtime home loss to a Kansas team that moved from No. 2 to No. 1 in The Associated Press poll, won for the first time in Lincoln since
2006.

The Wildcats had a double-digit lead 9 minutes into the game and never led by fewer than seven points the rest of the way.

Jacob Pullen had 13 points and Curtis Kelly added 12 for the Wildcats.
Jorge Brian Diaz had 13 points and Ryan Anderson 10 for Nebraska (13-9, 1-6).

Lance Jeter’s 3-pointer finished a 7-0 spurt to open the second half that pulled Nebraska within 42-35, but Clemente went on his run of 3-pointers to rebuild the Wildcats’ lead to 53-37.

Nebraska lost for the 13th time in 18 games against ranked opponents under fourth-year coach Doc Sadler. The Huskers play at No. 1 Kansas on Saturday in the second of five straight games against Top 25 teams.

The Huskers struggled mightily in the first half against the more athletic Wildcats, missing five layups and a dunk and having three other shots blocked.

Anderson shook his right fist in disgust after one of his passes sailed out of bounds untouched because Christian Standhardinger cut the wrong way, one of the Huskers’ 16 turnovers.

Nebraska scored just one field goal in the 6½ minutes before halftime, and that appeared to be by accident. Standhardinger was preparing to rebound Brandon Ubel’s short shot when the ball glanced off his hands and went through the hoop.

Griffin scored 24 points, including the 1,700th of her career, to help No. 6 Nebraska remain unbeaten with an 80-64 victory over Colorado on Saturday.

“We aren’t thinking about that right now,” Griffin said. “We put all our focus on Colorado and after the game was over we put all our attention on Oklahoma State because we can’t afford looking any farther than Oklahoma State.”

Dominique Kelley matched her season high with 18 points for Nebraska (19-0, 6-0 Big 12), which is off to the best start of any Big 12 team since the conference’s inception in 1996-97.

Cory Montgomery and Yvonne Turner added 11 each for the Cornhuskers, who won in Boulder for the sixth time in 31 games and remain the only undefeated team besides top-ranked Connecticut. The Huskies blew out Pittsburgh 98-56.

Bianca Smith and Chucky Jeffrey led Colorado (12-8, 2-5) with 14 points apiece. Jeffrey had 11 rebounds for her first career double-double and the Buffaloes suffered their season-high third straight loss.

Nicole Neals made a 3-pointer and Kelley contributed a three-point play to make it 44-33 after Colorado had trimmed the lead to 38-33 on Jeffrey’s layup early in the second half.

“I didn’t even notice, said Griffin about the tightening of the game. “We just try to play every possession.”
Griffin made two layups to increase Nebraska’s advantage to 13, but with Griffin getting a two-minute rest, the Buffaloes got to within 50-44 on Meagan Malcolm- Peck’s 3-pointer with 12 minutes left.

Griffin hit a layup, blocked a shot and came up with a steal upon her return and her basket with 9:03 to go put the Cornhuskers ahead 58-46. Montgomery had layups off an inbound pass and a steal and Turner followed with a 3-pointer to pad Nebraska’s lead to 70-52 with 4:31 remaining.

“I think we have to be tougher in those stretches,” Smith said. “Sometimes, we lose our focus and that’s when teams push a six-point to 12 on us.”

The Buffaloes never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.

Griffin was limited to eight points in the first half, but Kelley filled the void with nine as Nebraska built a 37-29 lead. Two free throws by Griffin and Neals’ 3-pointer gave the Cornhuskers their biggest lead of the half, 27-13, but Smith got the lead under double digits with a pair of 3-pointers in the last minute.

Suh had already won two defensive player of the year awards — the Nagurski and Bednarik — and two for best lineman — the Lombardi and Outland. He also finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

“Just being recognized as player of the year is a huge accomplishment,” Suh said in a recent phone interview from Lincoln, Neb.

He received 26 of a possible 59 votes from AP college football poll voters to edge Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, who received 20 votes.

Heisman winner Mark Ingram finished tied for third with Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, each getting six votes. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow received one vote.

Since the AP started handing out a player of the year award in 1998, all the winners have been quarterbacks or running backs.

“It’s a great choice,” Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. “ I give (the voters) a lot of credit. I’m not taking anything away from Ingram or McCoy or any of the other guys. I just think at his position, you would be hard-pressed to say there’s a better player than Suh. He’s had a tremendous year.”

It’s the fourth time the AP award went to a player other than the Heisman winner and first since Iowa quarterback Brad Banks beat out USC’s Carson Palmer in 2003.

Suh finished behind Ingram, Gerhart and McCoy in the Heisman voting, though he did receive more points than any fourth-place finisher in the 75-year history of the award.

Suh, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior, was already having an All-America-caliber season before the Cornhuskers played Texas on Dec. 5 at Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

He nearly led Nebraska to a stunning upset, with 12 tackles and 4½ sacks. The Longhorns kicked a last-second field goal to escape with a 13-12 victory, but Suh was so utterly unblockable he earned a trip to New York as one of five finalists for the Heisman.

He finished the season with 12 sacks and was the pillar of the ninth-ranked defense in the country.

“I think I had a good year,” he said. “I definitely got better in a couple of areas. I won’t say I’m satisfied by any means, because we still have a big game left to play against Arizona in the Holiday Bowl.”

He’ll tell you he’s still learning to play the game.

“I haven’t played a perfect game yet so let’s try and see if I can do that against Arizona,” he said.

Suh got a relatively late start to football. Soccer and basketball were his thing growing up in Portland, Ore., the son of a Jamaican mother and father from Cameroon. His name means “House of Spears” in the language of the Ngema tribe.

But Suh literally outgrew soccer. His mother, Bernadette, was apprehensive about allowing her son to play football, but eventually gave her permission.

Ball carriers have been dealing with the repercussions of that decision ever since.

Suh went through some tough times in his first two seasons at Nebraska, being part of one of the worst defenses in school history in 2007. Then Pelini became the Huskers coach and Nebraska’s defense began to turn around with Suh leading the charge.

Physically, Suh is everything an NFL team could want in a defensive linemen. Big, strong, quick and agile, he’s projected to be one of the first players taken in April’s draft.

Suh credits the coaching of Pelini and defensive coordinator Carl Pelini, Bo’s brother, for his development.

“Mentally, being able to pick up on different reads and formations and what things can be run out of certain formations and tendencies of teams,” Suh said.

Carl Pelini’s first chance to coach Suh came with the player unable to play. It was spring practice of 2008 and Suh was recovering from surgery. Without ever putting on pads, Suh impressed his coach.

“I was coaching the other guys, and he was just watching,” Pelini said. “He was shoulder to shoulder with me. He hadn’t practiced a snap but he was a better football player coming out of that spring.

“He’s a very cerebral guy. He wants to know why, and it’s made him a great football player.”

Academics always came before sports in Suh’s home. That can happen when your mom is a teacher.

“They know coming from Third World countries that education is the key,” he said.

The 22-year-old graduated last weekend with a degree in construction management engineering. He said he plans to take some postgraduate courses while he prepares for the NFL combine.

“The main focus is, now that I’m done with school, just worry about football and go from there,” he said.

Suh seems set to go far.

A visibly weary Suh on Tuesday joined his teammates at practice for the first time in 11 days. After his career performance in the Big 12 championship game against Texas on Dec. 5, Suh visited four cities in six days.

The last stop was New York for the Heisman ceremony. He finished fourth in voting behind Alabama running back Mark Ingram, the best showing by a defensive player since Michigan’s Charles Woodson won in 1997.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s an offensive ballot,” Suh said. “Offensive guys are going to get most of the votes. It’s fine. I wish I could have gotten more. I wasn’t hurt by it.”

The practice field was a welcome sight to Suh, who didn’t get much chance to stretch his legs other than when he slipped away to hotel workout rooms. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior flew commercial and was cramped sitting in coach.

“I’m tired of traveling. I hate traveling,” said Suh, who added to his honors Tuesday when he was announced as a unanimous pick to The Associated Press All-America team.

Suh said he didn’t go soft after spending a week on the road.
“I’m in fine shape,” he said. “I don’t think I could lose my wind in a week.”

Suh started last week in Charlotte, N.C., where he received the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. He was in Houston on Wednesday to pick up the Lombardi Award. Then it was on to Orlando, Fla., for the Outland Trophy and Bednarik Award. The week ended with a Friday-Saturday trip to New York.

In addition to practicing four days this week, he’s finishing up final exams, and he’ll graduate Saturday with his degree in construction management.

He said he plans to spend part of January at home in Portland, Ore., before he begins training for his future in the NFL. Suh is projected to be one of the first players taken in April’s draft.

The 20th-ranked Huskers (9-4) are getting ready for their Dec. 30 game against No. 22 Arizona (8-4) in the Holiday Bowl.

Suh said he and his teammates want Nebraska to win a 10th game for the first time since 2003.

“It’s a number, but it’s an important number,” Suh said. “I’ve never had a 10-win season. I want to leave that mark and have it for guys to match or to beat in years to come, hopefully beat it by quite a few games.”

Receiver Brandon Kinnie said the respect Suh commands from teammates was illustrated last week in the players’ lounge when the room became quiet and all activity stopped when Suh appeared on television.

Kinnie said his appreciation for Suh’s accomplishments probably will grow over time.

“My dad called me and said, ‘You don’t understand what he does because you watch from sideline. We watch it on TV and he manhandles people like a monster out there.’

“As players, we see it, but we don’t see it-see it. When I see the highlights on TV, it’s like, ‘Did he just throw that man like that?’ It’s kind of shocking when you look at it.”

Suh is coming off an outing against Texas in which he matched his career high with 12 tackles, had 4½ sacks and two quarterback hurries. His personal highlight came in the second half when he grabbed Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, twirled him around and threw him to the turf.

The Huskers lost 13-12, but the game undoubtedly propelled Suh to his impressive finish in Heisman voting.

Safety Larry Asante said defensive players feel as if they share in Suh’s success.

“We play team defense,” Asante said, “and we felt like he represented us at the Heisman.”

Kevin Janse of the Dallas police says the threat was reported to Lincoln, Neb., police, who notified authorities there. Officers confronted the student before classes began Friday morning at Jesuit College Preparatory School.

Janse says officers interviewed the student and determined the threat was not credible. No charges will be filed.

Janse said Suh saw the threat and reported it. But Nebraska athletics spokesman Keith Mann says the Heisman finalist didn’t know anything about it. Suh told him the fan page was likely one of several accounts with his name that were started by other people.

Lincoln police were not immediately available to comment.

The Nebraska defensive tackle in one night went from Heisman dark horse to fast-finishing finalist and might have shaken the big bronze statue loose from Colt McCoy’s grasp as he was tossing the Texas
quarterback around Cowboys Stadium.

“I didn’t have any idea what my (Heisman) chances were (going into the game),” Suh said Friday, not long after checking into a midtown Manhattan hotel with his parents and sister. “My focus was to go out there and play as hard as I can to win that Big 12 championship and go to the Fiesta Bowl.”

Suh might not win the Heisman when it is handed out tonight, but the
guy who does should probably thank him.

McCoy, despite the pounding he took from Suh and the Cornuskers in a 13-12 victory in the Big 12 title game, is also a Heisman finalist, along with running backs Toby Gerhart from Stanford and Mark Ingram from Alabama, and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

Ingram seems to be the front-runner in what is expected to be a close vote. McCoy, the runner-up last year, was the favorite before he followed up a spectacular game on Thanksgiving night against Texas A&M with a clunker against Nebraska. Now there’s no guarantee he’ll finish in the top three,

Suh, meanwhile, probably has a better chance at becoming the first defensive lineman, and just the second defensive player, to win the Heisman than Tebow has to become the second player to win No. 2.

“I’m a competitor so I’d like to win, but I don’t think I will,” said Tebow, who was the first sophomore to win the award in 2007 and finished third in 2008.

Along with the Notre Dame coaching search and the usual BCS bashing, Suh’s thoroughly dominant performance against the Longhorns — 41/2 sacks, 12 tackles and more time in the Texas backfield than just about anybody but McCoy — has been the talk of college football.
Tebow called him a “dominant player.”

“Four and a half sacks is pretty ridiculous for a nose guard in the two-gap defense,” Tebow said.

Ingram called Suh “a man,” “a game-changer” and “a force to be reckoned with.”

Gerhart said, “I can’t pronounce his name, so I just call him the beast from Nebraska.”

Even with all the attention Suh has gotten, being named a finalist on Monday caught him off guard.

“I was definitely surprised,” the 300-pound senior said. “I would have assumed a lot of the votes were in already. I had some media people who had votes down at the Nagurski (Award presentation) and said they voted for me and said a lot of people waited until after the Big 12 game and SEC game and the other games that were played on Saturday to make their votes.”

The only defensive player to win the Heisman was Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson, but he also returned kicks and played some receiver.
Suh is the first lineman to be a finalist since Ohio State offensive tackle Orlando Pace in 1996. He’s the first defensive lineman since Miami’s Warren Sapp in 1994.

Sapp finished sixth that season. In 1991, Washington’s Steve Emtman finished fourth in the Heisman voting.

“It’s definitely a rare thing, and I’m definitely proud to be in a position to represent the defensive line and offensive line as well,” Suh said. “I’m definitely glad to be here to represent them, and if I were to win that would be a great honor to represent those guys.”

Ingram, who ran for 1,542 yards and scored 18 touchdowns, would be the first Alabama player to win the award.

“All the All-Americans, all the SEC championships, all the national championships, all the bowl victories, all the great coaches, great players that have come through here, it’s kind of crazy to me that nobody has even won the Heisman Trophy, not one person,” Ingram said.

Tebow, who has a vote as a former winner, declined to say who received his vote, but said he thinks Ingram is the favorite.
So did Gerhart, who has more yards rushing (1,736) and touchdowns (26) than any other player in the country.

Suh also said the tailbacks look like the favorites.

He doesn’t have a vote, but when it comes to this Heisman race, Suh might have been the deciding factor.

It hasn’t hurt the conference, either.

McCoy capped a big Thursday night for the Big 12, winning the Maxwell Award honoring the nation’s best all-around player.

It was just the latest in a series of postseason honors for McCoy, who also is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. He won the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s player of the year award for the second consecutive season earlier in the day.

Before he beat out fellow Heisman finalists Mark Ingram of Alabama and Tim Tebow of Florida for the Maxwell, he picked up the Davey O’Brien Award at the annual college football awards at Disney World, given to the nation’s best quarterback.

“To win awards like this shows that you’re greatly respected,” McCoy said. “It means people see the things that you do, and you’re rewarded for them.”

Apparently they didn’t see his last play. Or maybe they just let it slip.

The Longhorns (13-0) needed a field goal as time expired to beat Nebraska 13-12 in the Big 12 title game Saturday night. But on the second-to-last play, McCoy nearly let the clock strike zero on a rollout that surely had Longhorns fans gasping.

The player chasing him all night made out just fine Thursday night, too.

Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh, also a Heisman finalist, won the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s best defensive player, and he took home the Outland Trophy for the best interior lineman. He previously won the Lombardi Award as the nation’s top lineman and Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s top defensive player.

The powerhouse defensive lineman put together his best performance of the year against No. 2 Texas. He matched his career high with 12 tackles and had 41/2 sacks as the Cornhuskers nearly upset the Longhorns.

“I guess maybe that helped a little bit,” Suh said. “I’m just really honored to win these awards and it’s really a tribute to my teammates.”

McCoy and Suh also will be in New York on Saturday night hoping to win the Heisman. Ingram, Tebow and Stanford’s

Toby Gerhart are the other finalists for college football’s most prestigious award.

McCoy became the third player to win the Walter Camp award in back-to-back years, joining Ohio State star Archie Griffin (1974-75) and Southern California standout O.J. Simpson (1967-68). The honor is voted on by coaches and sports information directors.

McCoy led the Longhorns to a 13-0 record this season and a spot in the Jan. 7 BCS national championship game against Alabama. He threw for 3,512 yards and 27 touchdowns.

McCoy said his awards Thursday night don’t give him any indication how the Heisman race will play out.

“Who knows? All these awards are voted on by different groups of people,” McCoy said. “I really don’t pay attention to it. I try to stay away from that. You’re going to hear good things and bad things, and I don’t necessarily feel you need to hear either one of them.”

While Tebow didn’t win any awards on this night, the Florida star brought a little extra company.

Tebow brought 20-year-old Kelly Faughnan from Clifton, Va., as his “date.” Just before Thanksgiving last year, Kelly was diagnosed with a brain tumor, her father Jim said. She had surgery last December.

Her wish was to go to Disney World during the awards show to get a glimpse of Tebow. The two met Wednesday night, and Tebow said he decided to bring her along to the show.

“I was really touched,” Tebow said.

Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly won the Coach of the Year award on the same day he told his team he was leaving for Notre Dame.

Stanford’s Toby Gerhart won the Doak Walker Award for the nation’s best running back. Tennessee star Eric Berry accepted the Jim Thorpe Award honoring the best defensive back.

Notre Dame’s Golden Tate won the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver. UCLA’s Kai Forbath took home the Lou Groza Award for the best kicker.

Georgia’s Drew Butler won the Ray Guy Award honoring the nation’s best punter. Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich has won the Disney Spirit Award given to college football’s most inspirational figure. Herzlich overcame a rare form of bone cancer and is expected to return next season.

But in this week of picking up trophies, he took some time away from the celebration to apologize to fellow Lombardi Award finalist Jerry Hughes of TCU for not knocking off Texas in the Big 12 Championship game on Saturday.

Suh was chasing Colt McCoy with seconds left in the game and he threw the ball away as the clock ticked to zero. But a review ruled there was a second remaining and the Longhorns kicked a field goal for the 13-12 win.

A loss could have given undefeated TCU a spot in the national championship game. Instead Texas is headed to the game against Alabama.

“I wish I didn’t get to him,” Suh said. “I pushed him down and forced him to throw that ball away. I should’ve let him run around a little bit longer, then we wouldn’t have had to worry about trying to block a field goal.”

Suh delivered his regrets to Hughes earlier in the week when the two
were up for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. Suh also won the Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s top defensive player, and is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.

“I told him, ‘No apology needed, you did everything you could,’ ” Hughes said. “We were all rooting for Nebraska, obviously. One second from probably going to the national championship game, that’s not too bad, you know? TCU has come a long way and for us to even be mentioned in the conversation with the national championship is a great honor.”

Alabama’s Terrence Cody and Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma were the other finalists.

Suh finished the regular season with 82 tackles, 23 tackles for losses and 12 sacks. In the Big 12 championship game, he had a career-high 12 tackles, including a school-record seven tackles for losses and 4½ sacks.

Suh wasn’t sure how much his performance against the Longhorns contributed to the number of individual honors he’s received this week.

“I went out in that game and all I wanted to do was come out with the Big 12 championship ring and unfortunately it ended the way it did and I didn’t get a chance to do that,” he said. “I don’t know exactly how much that weighed into it, maybe a little bit, maybe a lot. I don’t know.”

The Big 12 defensive player of the year also is up for the Walter Camp Award, the Lott Trophy, the Bednarik Award and the Outland Trophy.
Suh is the first Nebraska player to win the Lombardi Award since Grant Wistrom nabbed the honor in 1997 and the fifth overall.

Suh said Nebraska’s history of having great defenses was one of the major reasons he chose the school.

“We were kind of in the dumps when I was getting recruited, a couple of bad years had come before … I wanted to be part of a unit or a class that started to bring that program back,” he said. “My class leaving this year, I think, has helped that process tremendously. I hope we have. We’re not quite there, but you’re starting to see the ‘Blackshirts’ again, for sure.”

Suh’s voice shook as he accepted the award and afterward he said winning it was a “total surprise.”

“In my eyes this is a very huge one, especially at my position,” he said. “The guys that are the unsung heroes in college football and football all-around, guys that just do the dirty work and get the job done for everybody else are the defensive linemen and offense linemen.”

The Rotary Club of Houston has presented the award annually since 1970. Voting totals from the award are not released.

ARLINGTON – This is it for the Texas Longhorns, the chance they’ve been waiting for since last December.

There are no tiebreakers or computer formulas in their way.

All Colt McCoy and the No. 3 Longhorns have to do is beat No. 21 Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game tonight and they will be playing for the national championship.

Texas coach Mack Brown spent the past 12 months reminding his players they were spit out by the system last year. He challenged them to “take it away from the system” by winning all their games and, so far, they have.

Do it once more and the Longhorns (12-0) will clinch a spot in the BCS championship game Jan. 7 against the winner of the SEC championship game between No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Alabama.

“This is a team that started out in the top two or three in the country, and if we had not been in this game a lot of people would have felt like the team had not lived up to the standards,” Brown said Friday. “So they’ve had pressure every game. There’s been speculation about a lot of things every week and I don’t think it affects them very much. They just keep playing.”

The Cornhuskers (9-3) can force their way into a BCS bowl with an upset.

It would be quite a coup for second-year coach Bo Pelini – and terrific payback for Nebraska, which was No. 3 and eyeing a national championship when Texas, a 20-point underdog, won the inaugural Big 12 title game in 1996.

If Pelini is using things like getting revenge and playing spoiler as motivation, he’s not saying. At a news conference Friday, he insisted the focus is merely on Nebraska continuing the roll it’s been on since back-to-back home losses in October.

“Everyone’s going to have their different motivations,” he said. “Ours is strictly (being) motivated by what it does for us and our football team.”

These Cornhuskers are winning the way several generations of Cornhuskers did, with a stifling defense and a powerful running game.

Hulking tackle Ndamukong Suh, the Big 12 defensive player of the year, and his mates might be able to keep McCoy and the Longhorns below their average of 43 points per game. The bigger question is how many points quarterback Zac Lee and running backs Roy Helu Jr. and Rex Burkhead can put up against a Texas defense that is No. 1 in the country against the run, allowing 61.8 yards per game.

“Their stats and the things they’ve been able to do defensively speaks for itself as far as what we’re facing,” Pelini said. “But it’s 60 minutes. … I believe our offense, I like our plan. I like who is executing it, and we look forward to it.”

Brown is pretty fond of the guy running his offense, too.

McCoy has won 44 games, the most by any quarterback in NCAA history. He needs one more for his senior class to match the most wins by a four-year class at Texas, a mark held by predecessor Vince Young and the team that won the national championship in 2005. Winning the title obviously would give this group the record all to themselves. It would mean even more to McCoy and three other fifth-year seniors who were along for the ride in ‘05 as true freshmen taking their redshirt seasons.

Yet another dangling carrot for McCoy is the Heisman Trophy. He’s already likely done enough to be a finalist for the second straight year, but a shaky start to this season may have him playing catch-up with one game to go.

“At the first of the year we weren’t playing consistently well … and I think he felt that,” Brown said. “When we did a better job as coaches getting kids settled and getting them to have some experience at the same spots, he has played just lights out.”

Brown is a grandfatherly leader, reminiscent of his college coach, Bobby Bowden. But he hasn’t been so tender when it comes to using the memory of last season, when they were not just one game or one play from reaching their goals, but 1 second away.

Had the Longhorns kept Texas Tech from scoring on the final play, they would have been in the Big 12 championship game, playing for a spot in the national championship game. Instead, the loss left them in a three-way tie for first place in the South Division. Oklahoma – a team Texas beat 45-35 on a neutral field – went to the conference championship, then played for the national title.

How often has Brown reminded them?

“Eight times a day,” he said, smiling.

Other than against Oklahoma, Texas has scored at least 34 points a game. The defense hadn’t given up more than 24 points until beating Texas A&M.

“We’re 12-0 and haven’t played our best game,” Brown said. “We’ve been doing it for halves. We’ve still not been good for an entire ballgame. That’s what I’m excited about.”

Texas has won three straight against Nebraska and six of seven in the Big 12 era, starting with the ‘96 title game. South teams have won five straight Big 12 championship games and they haven’t been close; the cumulative score: South 233, North 51.

The Longhorns should have the fans on their side.

A sellout crowd of more than 80,000 is expected at Cowboys Stadium. Considering the location, most are likely to be wearing burnt orange.

“We got into the game a week before Nebraska did,” Brown said, “so I’m hoping our fans were able to buy a lot more tickets than theirs.”