ESPN Big 12 Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Wasn’t it only last year that we were all tripping over adjectives to try to describe the potent Oklahoma offense?

The Sooners rang up a record 716 points as they turned the Big 12 into a boat race over the second half of the 2008 season. Sam Bradford threw for 50 touchdowns en route to the Heisman Trophy. Running backs DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown both topped 1,000 rushing yards. And a squadron of receivers made the Sooners’ offense one of the most potent in college football history with five straight games of 60 points or more late last season.

What a difference a year makes.

The Sooners’ 10-3 loss at Nebraska on Saturday marked the fourth time this season the Sooners have scored 20 points or less in a loss this season.

This is the same team that came into the season with a No. 3 national ranking and serious hopes of redeeming themselves after five consecutive losses in the BCS games. They also were thought to have a good shot at defending their Big 12 championship and claiming an unprecedented fourth-straight title.

All of those plans were doomed as soon as Bradford reinjured his right shoulder early in the Texas game.

The Sooners’ bad luck bottomed out Saturday night when they dropped a 10-3 loss to Nebraska, marking a watershed moment in Bob Stoops’ illustrious coaching career. It was the fewest number of points that the Sooners have scored in the Stoops era.

“When we get into a tough game like this we don’t have any composure,” Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson told the Tulsa World. “We don't have any leadership. And that starts with me."

Key turnovers, penalties and a sputtering kicking game made their mark in Saturday’s loss to Nebraska.

The Oklahoman wondered today if this was the worst Oklahoma team in this decade. And their struggles in the Nebraska loss might reinforce that.

The Sooners were flagged for 64 yards against the Cornhuskers, with 50 yards coming on penalties against the offensive line. The two most critical penalties came on two post-play personal fouls by Jarvis Jones and Trent Williams.

“The penalty factors gets down to discipline,” Stoops said Monday. “It’s frustrating. We have some inexperience and injuries. But 10 games in, you’ve got to be able to play by the rules and not have dumb penalties.”

Landry Jones, who broke the school record with six touchdown passes against Tulsa on Sept. 19, threw a school-record five interceptions against Nebraska. And kicker Tress Way misfired on three field goal attempts.

Jones’ fourth-quarter struggles have been magnified against the best teams that Oklahoma has faced. Every drive in the fourth quarter against either Nebraska or Texas has resulted in either an interception or a failed fourth-down play. It continues a trend that has seen the Sooners produce two field goals in the fourth quarter of their losses to Miami, BYU, Texas and Nebraska.

“We've got to look at our players and our ability to respond in a proper way, and if guys aren't, then how do we handle that?" Wilson said. "That doesn't necessarily mean that you get rid of players, but we cannot allow for the same mistakes to continue happening over and over."

The result was that the Sooners were knocked out of the top 25 for the first time since the 2005 season. Today, Stoops finds his team at 5-4 – his worst record ever after nine games.

They still have three regular-season games with home games against Texas A&M on Saturday and Oklahoma State on Nov. 28. The Sooners have one of the biggest homefield advantages in college football at Owen Field where they have won a nation-best 28 straight games and Stoops’ record is 64-2 in his coaching tenure.

The Sooners also will travel to Texas Tech, where they haven’t won since 2003. It will be a tall order to expect to win a shootout against the Red Raiders in those surroundings.

Win them all the Sooners could be heading to the Cotton Bowl, which would be a nice goal to play against a strong Southeastern Conference foe with a shot to build some momentum heading into the 2010 season.

But lose a couple of them and the Sooners could be skidding to the Alamo or Sun Bowl. It would be their lowest mark on the bowl feeding chain since losing to Mississippi in the Independence Bowl in Stoops’ first season in 1999.

It reinforces why the next three games will be so critical in the direction of the Oklahoma program for the rest of the season and beyond.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said Monday that versatile offensive lineman Brody Eldridge will miss Saturday's game against Texas A&M because of a shoulder injury sustained in the Sooners' 10-3 loss at Nebraska on Saturday.

His absence is another obstacle for Oklahoma's injury-riddled offense. The Sooners already are missing Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford (shoulder) and preseason All-America tight end Jermaine Gresham (knee) with season-ending injuries.

Eldridge's absence will be particularly bad for an inexperienced Oklahoma offensive front struggling with penalties and productivity.

Both Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson have said that Eldridge has been the Sooners' highest-graded lineman since moving from tight end to guard before the Sooners' Oct. 17 game against Texas.

The Sooners could move right guard Stephen Good to left guard and move right tackle Jarvis Jones into Good's spot. Or they could insert freshman Tyler Evans, who has been struggling with an ankle injury since he claimed the starting job earlier in the season.

Or Tavaris Jeffries could be inserted back into the lineup. Jeffries started three games earlier this season before he was suspended before the Sooners' Oct. 24 victory at Kansas. Jeffries suited up the following week against Kansas State but missed the Nebraska game with a family emergency, team officials said.

Stoops also said that defensive end Auston English is questionable for the A&M game after injuring his ankle early in the Sooners' loss at Nebraska.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Baylor quarterback Nick Florence, Nebraska safety Matt O'Hanlon and Texas A&M kick returner/running back Cyrus Gray were named the Big 12's players of the week for Saturday's games selected by a media panel. Florence and O'Hanlon were chosen for the first time in their careers and Gray earned his second career award.

Here's a look at what each player did to earn their honors.

Baylor QB Nick Florence, Fr., Garland, Texas (South Garland H.S.)

Florence set a school record with 427 passing yards, completing 32-of-43 attempts with no interceptions in the Bears' 40-32 win at Missouri. He threw a career-high three touchdown passes and added another rushing touchdown. With the win, the Bears ended an 11-game Big 12 road losing streak, dating back to a triple-overtime victory on Oct. 7, 2006 at Colorado. It was also the first time Baylor overcame a second-half deficit to win since Oct. 21, 2006.


Nebraska S Matt O'Hanlon, Sr., Bellevue, Neb. (East H.S.)

O’Hanlon tied a school record with three interceptions, made 12 tackles and broke up a pass in Nebraska’s 10-3 win over Oklahoma. He became the fourth Cornhusker to pick off three passes in a game, with all coming in the second half. His first interception set up a Nebraska field goal that gave the Huskers a 10-3 lead and his final pick ended Oklahoma’s last scoring opportunity to seal the win. His 12 tackles were a career-high and included nine solo stops. Nebraska's five interceptions were its most in six seasons and the most takeaways produced by the Cornhuskers in 70 games.
Texas A&M KR/RB Cyrus Gray, Texas A&M, So., DeSoto, Texas

Gray totaled 181 yards on four kick returns in Texas A&M’s 35-34 loss at Colorado. He had a career-best 99-yarder that went for a touchdown in the second quarter and added a 45-yard return in the fourth quarter that set up A&M’s final score. In addition, Gray rushed for 41 yards against the Buffaloes.

Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin analyzes the results from Week 10 in the Big 12.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Exactly how long will former Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione be out of the coaching game?

Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman thinks it might not be that much longer.

That link and others top our daily offerings from across the conference.

• ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel wonders why Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman didn’t go for a field goal early in the game against Colorado like he did later in the game.
• The Denver Post’s Chris Dempsey writes about Colorado's offensive improvement shown against Texas A&M.
• The San Antonio Express-News/Houston Chronicle’s Brent Zwerneman analyzes bowl prospects for Texas A&M and Baylor.
• The Oklahoman’s John Helsey opines that the Fiesta Bowl could still be in the cards for Oklahoma State.
• Former Colorado coach Gary Barnett liked what he saw from Nebraska Saturday night in the Cornhuskers' victory over Oklahoma, the Lincoln Journal-Star's Steve Sipple writes.
• The emergence of Nebraska and Kansas State as likely Big 12 North title contenders is analyzed by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jimmy Burch.
• The Oklahoman’s Jake Trotter opines if this is the worst Oklahoma team of this decade. And The Oklahoman’s David Ubben wonders whatever happened to the “good” Landry Jones?
• The Los Angeles Times’ Chris Dufresne writes about the inevitability of a Texas vs. Florida/Alabama BCS national title game.
• The Lawrence Journal-World’s Eric Sorrentino notes the dramatic change in Kansas State’s discipline under Bill Snyder after its victory over Kansas.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Texas has as clear of a path to the BCS as any of the national challengers. All the 9-0 Longhorns need to do is win the rest of their games and claim the Big 12 championship game. Mack Brown’s team figures to be a heavy favorite in every one of those games.

The Thanksgiving night trip to College Station could be the trickiest, but the Longhorns have an easier path to Pasadena than any team in the top 3, with Alabama and Florida set to play each other in the SEC title game. They don’t even have to leave the state of Texas in any of their remaining games before the bowls.

The only other Big 12 team with an outside shot at an at-large berth in the BCS is 7-2 Oklahoma State. The Cowboys, ranked No. 17 in the most recent BCS standings, have played much better than anybody would have perceived before the start of the season, considering the loss of leading receiver Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter for most of the season. The Cowboys’ only losses have come against Texas and Houston -- both in the top 13 of the BCS’ most recent standings.

For the Cowboys to make the title game, they likely will need a slew of teams in front of them to lose. But if that should happen, and they run the rest of the schedule with victories over Texas Tech, Colorado and at Oklahoma, they would be 10-2. And considering who OSU’s losses have been to, they would have as much of an argument as any other two-loss team left.

But it will be more likely for the Big 12 to have only one BCS team, unless Texas should be upset in the Big 12 championship game and the North title winner would win the berth in the Fiesta Bowl. If that would happen, the Longhorns still likely would qualify as a BCS at-large team, although their national title hopes assuredly would be dashed.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

As one Big 12 divisional race appears nearly settled, the other division is scrambled heading into the final three weeks of the season.

Texas can nail down its first undisputed Big 12 South title and its first trip to the conference title game since its 2005 national championship season with a combination of two victories, two Oklahoma State losses or one Texas Tech loss. The Longhorns have the tiebreaker over all of the major remaining contenders in the South with previous victories over OSU, Tech and Oklahoma. It's looking almost certain that the Longhorns will represent the South in the Dec. 5 championship game.

The North became a little clearer after Kansas State’s victory over Kansas and Nebraska’s upset over Oklahoma pushed those two teams into the driver’s seat in the division. The Wildcats (4-2 in conference play) have a half-game lead over the Cornhuskers (3-2). Both have a one-game lead over third-place Colorado (2-3) and a two-game lead over the three other teams with four losses.

The Wildcats can wrap up their first division title since 2003 with one more victory and two Nebraska losses. KSU can take another step by beating Missouri on Saturday before finishing the season Nov. 21 at Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers have a difficult finish with road games against Kansas and Colorado sandwiched around the game with KSU that should help settle the division.

Colorado is in third place, but one loss would give the Buffaloes seven defeats for the season and knock them out of bowl eligibility. They would likely have to sweep their remaining conference games at Iowa State and Oklahoma State and the season-ending game against Nebraska. They would also have to hope that KSU lost both remaining games against Nebraska and Missouri, because the Wildcats already have the head-to-head tiebreaker with a victory over the Buffaloes earlier in the season.

So as of this week, Texas and KSU appear headed to the championship game. It would be an interesting game from a historical basis as no Big 12 North team has played better against Texas in the history of the league than the Wildcats. KSU is the only North team to hold an advantage over the Longhorns with a 4-2 record since the Big 12 began, including a current two-game winning streak where the Wildcats stunned the No. 4 ranked Longhorns in Manhattan in 2006 and the No. 7 ranked Longhorns in Austin in 2007.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Here are this week's Big 12 power rankings after four upsets scrambled both divisions.

1. Texas: The Longhorns sputtered coming out of the gate, but still rebounded for an impressive victory over UCF. Colt McCoy stoked his Heisman Trophy credentials with a monster game, and Jordan Shipley had the best receiving game in school history. The defense also kept up with its steady play. Amazingly, the Horns had one of their strongest games of the season and still fell from second to third in the BCS.

2. Oklahoma State: No Dez Bryant. No Kendall Hunter. No worries for this group. The key for the Cowboys’ recent surge has been Bill Young’s defense, which limited an Iowa State team that was leading the conference in rushing to only 54 yards. It’s helped the Cowboys win seven games in four consecutive seasons for the first time in the 109-season history of the program.

3. Texas Tech: The Red Raiders were off last week, but had more time to get their quarterback situation untracked as Steven Sheffield recovered from his foot surgery. The Red Raiders will face a huge challenge in the final three games as they meet Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor. Win out and they could be headed for the Cotton Bowl. But they haven’t claimed a sweep of those three teams in the same season since 1996.

4. Kansas State: Bill Snyder’s team isn’t very pretty, but it just keeps winning. The Wildcats beat Kansas because Daniel Thomas rushed for a career-best 185 yards, and an opportunistic defense that is plus-11 in turnover margin this season flummoxed the Jayhawks and Todd Reesing. The Wildcats can wrap up their first title since 2003 with a victory and two Nebraska losses. And can we give Snyder the Big 12’s Coach of the Year award by acclimation right now?

5. Nebraska: The Cornhuskers have the most favorable schedule of any of the North challengers, so they now are in the favorite’s role for the title. But their 10-3 victory over Oklahoma was set up because the game’s only touchdown capped a 1-yard scoring drive after an interception. The quarterback situation remains scrambled, but Roy Helu Jr. came up big for the Cornhuskers when they really needed him to. But as well as the defense played, how much confidence can Bo Pelini have in an offense that had more punts (11) than points (10) or first downs (7)?

6. Oklahoma: In doing these weekly ratings since the conference began, I can’t remember the Sooners being ranked as low during the Bob Stoops coaching era. The Sooners’ offense had the lowest point production in Stoops’ tenure against Nebraska and it was painful to watch. Oklahoma had field position all night as 11 of 16 drives ended up in Nebraska territory and it still couldn’t produce a touchdown for the first time in the Stoops era. Sooners coaches have to hope that the five-interception effort by redshirt freshman Landry Jones -- a school record -- doesn’t stunt his growth as a starter.

7. Kansas: Reesing’s stature as the most productive quarterback in school history is being sullied by his mystifying turnover slump late in his senior season. The Jayhawks are skidding out of control with four straight losses after five victories to start the season. The upcoming games appear tough, and a sixth victory that would ensure bowl eligibility will be a difficult accomplishment. Remember when many thought this team was the North Division’s best?

8. Colorado: Don’t look now, but the Buffaloes are sitting in third place in the North Division after their comeback victory over Texas A&M. Tyler Hansen had a resilient game as he rebounded from eight sacks to spark a surprisingly effective offense. The Buffaloes still are only a game away from being eliminated from bowl contention, but they have a better shot at the North title than Kansas and Missouri teams that were picked in front of them.

9. Texas A&M: The Aggies squandered a chance to become bowl eligible and their schedule gets tougher in the next several games. Their defense picked up eight sacks against Colorado, but they let too many receivers get free for big gains and it cost them the game. I’m still wondering why a field goal looks so good in the fourth quarter on the road, when the same situation was in place in the first quarter and didn’t call for the gamble. The Aggies had good field position and strong special-teams play and still couldn’t escape with a victory.

10. Iowa State: The Cyclones have two shots at bowl eligibility remaining and their best chance will be this week when Colorado visits. Paul Rhoads has done a masterful job with this team’s confidence, but it has struggled offensively in the past three games. Over the last 13 quarters, the Cyclones have produced three touchdowns. Their bowl hopes depend on juicing production -- quickly.

11. Baylor: Great coaching job by Art Briles to keep the Bears engaged this season after the Robert Griffin injury. And his confidence paid off with the upset victory at Missouri where Nick Florence sliced through the Missouri defense for a school-record 427 passing yards. Brian Norwood’s defense made some masterful adjustments after Blaine Gabbert blistered the Bears in the first half. It helped snap Baylor’s 13-game conference road losing streak and ranked as the Big 12 upset of the season so far.

12. Missouri: The loss to Baylor has to rank as one of the worst of Gary Pinkel’s coaching era. Nick Florence singed the Missouri defense and stretched their home losing streak to three games for the first time since 2004. The Tigers have been outscored 80-11 in the second half of five Big 12 games with the points coming from three field goals and a safety. But they still remain only one victory from bowl eligibility as a difficult challenge at North Division leader Kansas State approaches this week.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

It’s always precarious trying to slot bowl teams in early November.

And after a week like we just had in the Big 12, it’s even tougher.

Four upsets have scrambled the conference’s bowl order and made the postseason opportunities for the teams no clearer than they were early in the season.

For the first time since 2006, it looks like the Big 12 will only have one team in the BCS. That will cost the league millions of dollars, but result in a true bowl selection for the conference for a change.

No Big 12 teams have been eliminated from bowl contention. And it’s likely that if the conference has more teams than bowl slots, there’s a good chance that the conference should be able to fill another bowl or two, if needed.

The conference’s hottest team is Kansas State. Although the Wildcats need to get to seven victories after notching two triumphs over FCS opponents earlier this season, they should get there with one victory in their final two games.

Here are my projections for the bowls heading into the week’s games.

• Citi BCS National Championship Game, Jan. 7, 8 p.m. ET, FOX Sports, Pasadena, Calif. -- Texas vs. BCS team
• AT&T Cotton Bowl, Jan. 2, 2 p.m., FOX Sports, Arlington, Texas -- Oklahoma State vs. SEC team
• Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, Dec. 30, 8 p.m., ESPN, San Diego -- Nebraska vs. Pac-10 team
• Valero Alamo Bowl, Jan. 2, 9 p.m., ESPN, San Antonio -- Texas Tech vs. Big Ten team
• Brut Sun Bowl, Dec. 31, noon, CBS, El Paso, Texas -- Oklahoma vs. Pac-10 team
• Insight Bowl, Dec. 31, 5:30 p.m., NFL Network, Tempe, Ariz. -- Kansas State vs. Big Ten team
• Texas Bowl, Dec. 30, 8 p.m., NFL Network, Houston -- Texas A&M vs. Navy
• Independence Bowl, Dec. 28, 5 p.m., ESPN, Shreveport, La. -- Missouri vs. SEC team

I also think Iowa State will be bowl eligible with a 6-6 record. Look for some bowl to pick the Cyclones when their conference arrangements fall through.

For a look at our bowl schedule page, check this link.

And for the most recent projections from our bowl gurus Mark Schlabach and Bruce Feldman, go to this link.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

The Big 12 was supposed to have gotten clearer after Saturday's games. Instead, it's much more scrambled after a wild day that featured four upsets.

Here were some of the more noteworthy storylines.

The meek made their presence known in the Big 12 -- at least for one day. The two teams with seemingly the least to play for on Saturday came up with the biggest performances. Baylor was mired in a 13-game conference road losing streak and had produced only 34 points in its first four Big 12 games. Despite those earlier struggles, backup quarterback Nick Florence responded with a record-setting day to help the Bears claim a 40-32 victory at Missouri and keep their slim bowl hopes alive. And at Colorado, the Buffaloes charged back from an 11-point halftime deficit and a 10-point hole midway through the fourth quarter to claim a wild 35-34 triumph over Texas A&M to keep their postseason hopes alive, too. The two cellar dwellers have not only scrambled the Big 12’s bowl prospects, but also provided a little rare hope after their triumphs.

Oklahoma State can play a little defense, too. Mike Gundy’s offense has deservedly gotten much of the credit for Oklahoma State’s strong season to date. But the work done by wily defensive coordinator Bill Young might be the biggest reason the Cyclones are 7-2. Young’s defense was at it again Saturday in a 34-8 triumph at Iowa State, where the Cowboys limited ISU’s league-leading rushing attack to a season-low 54 yards and top rusher Alexander Robinson to 51 yards. It marked the fourth time in their last six games that the Cowboys have limited their opponent to 17 points or less. And most importantly, it enabled the Cowboys to claim their seventh victory for a fourth-straight season -- a feat that has never been accomplished in the 109-season history of the program.

Forget a championship-game appearance. Tumbling Kansas might not make a bowl trip. The Jayhawks were the fashionable preseason pick to win the North Division, featuring the division's most experienced quarterback, a productive offense and a defense that would make enough plays to push them to their first championship game appearance. But the wheels appear to have fallen off as the Jayhawks have lost four straight games to doom their title-game hopes and even imperil a bowl trip unless they can somehow eke out another win. Todd Reesing’s health is the biggest reason the Jayhawks have headed south with 10 turnovers during a 10-quarter period in the losing streak, capped by a 17-10 defeat at Kansas State on Saturday. That loss has produced Kansas’ first four-game losing streak since the 2006 season -- the last time the Jayhawks failed to go bowling. Unless Mark Mangino can find a quick cure for Reesing’s maladies, Kansas might be facing a similar possibility this season.

Nebraska and Oklahoma -- just like old times. It was somehow fitting that the storied Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry ended up with a 10-3 game Saturday night. The Cornhuskers allowed Oklahoma inside the Nebraska 40 four times in the fourth quarter and still limited the Sooners to its lowest scoring production in the Bob Stoops era. It helped them overcome a sputtering offensive performance where the Nebraska quarterback position seems more up-in-the-air than ever after Cody Green’s struggles. But Bo Pelini won’t mind too much as the Blackshirts took a page from the past to beat the Sooners with a gritty, determined effort. Somewhere, legendary former Nebraska defensive coordinators like Charlie McBride and Monte Kiffin were smiling about the effort.

McCoy and Shipley race through the history books together. Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley are roommates and have been friends for years. After their strong seasons, they will go down as the greatest pass-and-catch duo in Texas football history. Their game Saturday against UCF was clearly one for the ages. Shipley snagged a school-record 273 yards on 11 receptions -- marking the fourth time in his past seven games he’s produced double-digit receptions. McCoy’s 470-yard passing effort merely was the second-best total in the history of the program. Their big efforts boosted McCoy into the lead in the conference’s pass efficiency and Shipley into the Big 12’s receiving lead. And both have positioned themselves to claim some major hardware when the awards presentations start in December.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Here are my helmet stickers for this week. We had to share a couple of them, but they were all richly deserved.

The Nebraska defense: Hard to split this one up among so many producers who held Oklahoma to its lowest point production in the 142-game coaching tenure of Bob Stoops. Matt O’Hanlon provided a team-high 12 tackles and three interceptions, including the clincher with 27 seconds left. Ndamukong Suh was all over the field with a pass deflection, four tackles and a blocked kick. Phillip Dillard had eight tackles, including two tackles for losses, a sack and an interception. The entire defense divvied up five interceptions and 12 pass deflections by 10 different players in a stellar effort that keeps their North Division title hopes alive.

Baylor quarterback Nick Florence: Passed for a school-record 427 yards and three touchdowns and added another running touchdown to spark the Bears’ 40-32 upset victory over Missouri for their first conference victory of the season. Florence completed 11 of his first 12 passes and finished 32 for 43 in passing, breaking the school record of 412 passing yards set by Blake Szymanski in 2007 against Rice.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and wide receiver Jordan Shipley: The two roommates shared one of the most memorable efforts in Texas football history to spark the Longhorns’ 35-3 victory over UCF. Shipley snagged 11 passes for a school-record 273 yards, including an 88-yard TD toss from McCoy. The big effort might have catapulted McCoy back into serious Heisman contention as completed 33 of 42 passes for 470 yards and two touchdowns, including a 14-yard strike to James Kirkendoll. It was the second-highest passing effort in school history, trailing only Major Applewhite’s 473-yard outing in the 2001 Holiday Bowl.

Oklahoma State running back Keith Toston: Rushed for a career-best 206 yards and three touchdowns to spark the Cowboys’ 34-8 victory over Iowa State. Toston scored on touchdown runs of 2, 17 and 1 yards. Toston punctuated his big day with a 69-yard run in the fourth quarter that marked his career-long rush.

Kansas State running back Daniel Thomas: Rushed for 24 times for a career-high 185 yards and a 5-yard touchdown to spark the Wildcats’ 17-10 victory over Kansas that keeps them in first place in the North Division. Thomas topped the 1,000-yard mark for the season early in the third quarter and finished with 1,087 yards for the season. He now has five 100-yard rushing games this season.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Bo Pelini was looking for a signature victory that signaled that his Nebraska program was headed back.

His defense provided one Saturday night, allowing the Cornhuskers to hold on for a gritty 10-3 victory over Oklahoma.

Safety Matt O'Hanlon provided the third of his three interceptions in the final minute to wrap up the victory. It was the fifth interception thrown by Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones.

The win enabled the Cornhuskers (6-3) to escape despite producing only 180 yards and seven first downs. The Cornhuskers converted only 1 of 14 third-down plays.

But they got the only touchdown of the game because of their defense. Prince Amukamara returned the interception to the Oklahoma 2. After an Oklahoma penalty, Zac Lee and Ryan Hill hooked up on a 1-yard touchdown pass.

It enabled the Cornhuskers to keep pace with Kansas State, which won earlier in the day against Kansas. Nebraska (3-2 in conference play) is a half-game behind the surprising Wildcats.

The Cornhuskers have a huge road trip to slumping Kansas, which comesinto the next week's game with a four-game losing streak.

It also snuffed out whatever slim hopes that Oklahoma had of reclaiming the Big 12 title. The Sooners (5-4) have lost more games than any team coached by Bob Stoops since 2005. Only two Oklahoma teams coached by Stoops have four or more losses.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Nebraska appeared ready to add the clinching blow after marching to the Oklahoma 26 on their recent drive.

But Alex Henery misfired on a 43-yard field goal attempt -- snapping a streak of 23 field goal attempts inside the 50 -- to keep Nebraska's lead at 10-3 with 5:30 left.

The Cornhuskers have produced only seven first downs in the game. But their defense has turned the Sooners away inside Nebraska territory on seven different occasions.

The Sooners are mounting one last chance. Landry Jones appears to be gaining confidence with every throw.

It will be interesting to see if he can finally score a touchdown.

The way they have struggled tonight, if they could finally score, it would be reminiscent of the "Sooner Magic" of Barry Switzer's coaching tenure.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Oklahoma could be headed for a record low in terms of production in tonight's game against Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers have a 10-3 lead after three quarters. The struggling Oklahoma offense has generated only 199 yards and one field goal.

Kicker Tress Way has shanked three field goal attempts as the Sooners have come up empty on three drives in Nebraska territory.

The Sooners' previous low in points came in a 35-7 loss to Kansas State in the 2003 Big 12 title game.

Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones has his work cut out for him in the fourth quarter.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

We expected a defensive battle when Nebraska and Oklahoma hooked up.

But nothing like how the game is turning out.

Nebraska holds a narrow 7-3 lead over the Sooners at halftime, despite producing only one first down.

The Cornhuskers have amassed 80 yards of total offense so far. Most of that came on a 63-yard run by Roy Helu Jr.

Oklahoma has been a little more effective, especially when they started running a no-huddle offense. Their defense has played strongly and will be challenging to either Zac Lee or Cody Green.

Both Nebraska quarterbacks have been ineffective. The Nebraska quarterbacks have completed 3-of-7 passes for 5 yards. And it won't be any easier for them in the second half.