Texas 13, Nebraska 12

Ughhhh.  Nebraska surely didn't deserve to win the game offensively.  With just a measly 106 total yards and 5 first downs, they did almost nothing to prove they deserved a BCS berth.  However, I'd like to apologize to all TCU fans because we let you down.  We had a shot to put you in the BCS Championship game and we made some huge mistakes late in the game.  Two things we did learn Saturday night, however: Nebraska's defense is greater than Texas' offense, and Ndamukong Suh is the best player in the nation. Let's review the keys of the game:

Nebraska needs to...

*Minimize their mistakes.

They did, too, for the first 3.9 quarters.  Until a costly kicking out of bounds penalty and a 15-yard personal foul penalty.  Nebraska forced the turnovers, forced the Texas mistakes, but also turned the ball over 3 times.

*Play loose.

Tough to tell.  They seemed to have played conservative on offense, but maybe that was masked by the great defensive effort by Texas.  They did go down field, and that resulted in multiple interceptions.  However, the D wasn't tense, as they dominated Heisman frontrunner and Big-12 Offensive Player of the Year, Colt McCoy.

*Establish the run.

Definitely not.  Nebraska couldn't establish a run, therefore they couldn't pass the ball either.  There were decent runs, but no good runs throughout the game.

Nebraska needs to control...

*Field position.

Alex Henery didn't have his best punting game.  However, Texas fair caught the ball inside their own 20 twice and started on the 1 after a kickoff.  On the other side, Niles Paul had some big returns to set up good field position, and a field goal.

*Jordan Shipley.

Shipley didn't score.  But he had two big catches against the Huskers.  One came when Texas was inside their own 2 on 3rd down.  On the last drive, he had a big catch and got horse-collar tackled to give Texas another 15 yards.  He ended with 7 catches for 71 yards.

*The clock.

Texas won the clock battle 32:00 to 28:00.  The fact that Nebraska had the ball that long with just 5 first downs is astounding.  They did shorten the game, and they did keep Texas to just 13 points.  You couldn't ask for more on defense.

Predictions

*McCoy will throw an INT in the first half.

Try two.  The Huskers forced McCoy to make some bad throws and simply made great defensive plays on two of the three INTs.  McCoy's early struggles kept Nebraska in the game, and his last INT set up a Nebraska lead with less than 2 min left.

*Niles Paul will make a play.

And he did.  He had two huge special teams plays, including a 42 yard punt return to the Texas 10 yard line.  Too bad the Huskers couldn't convert it into a touchdown, instead they brought the game within one point.

*The game will be close.

It came down to the last second, literally.  Texas had a hash-marked 46 yard field goal.  It was no gimme, and they almost didn't even get the opportunity.  Ndamukong Suh had an astounding 4.5 sacks and 7 TFL, even while getting double teamed and held the entire game.