The wild show of emotion that took place in the bowels of the Dallas Cowboys Stadium late Saturday night was understandable.

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini thought he had been jobbed at the end of his team's Big 12 Championship Game. And when he met with Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, Pelini had every right to vent about an officials' call he thought had been wrong.

Ultimately, the Big 12's decision to place a final second on the clock after Colt McCoy's inexplicable foolish rollout was the right one. It just didn't go down easily for Pelini or the legion of Cornhusker fans who thought for a moment that had taken what would have been one of the most dramatic upsets in recent college football.

But when another second was placed on the clock, you could tell Nebraska's hopes were doomed. Hunter Lawrence's 46-yard field goal only finished off the inevitable.

The wild ending of the game will put Texas back into the BCS title game for the first time since 2005. But it has also helped provide some impetus to several other points that will help Pelini and his program grow.

First, the Texas-Nebraska rivalry will now be at a white-hot pitch, particularly for Nebraska fans. I can only imagine what it will be like when the Longhorns visit Lincoln next Oct. 16 for the "rematch." The Big 12 needs these kind of rivalries. It's good for business.

But before that game, the Cornhuskers have some serious questions to answer -- namely about a sputtering offense that didn't deserve to win the title game.

The Cornhuskers produced only five first downs and amassed only 106 yards in the game. It was a struggling performance that featured a span without a first down over a period of eight drives during the middle of the game. The results were either a three-and-out or a turnover.

That performance should leave Pelini with some serious questions about his team's offensive performance, particularly with quarterback Zac Lee at the controls.

Early in the season, the Cornhuskers had the makings of a strong passing game where Lee was competent aerial threat. In those games, the Cornhuskers often worked from the spread and featured a vertical passing game. The Cornhuskers accounted for at least 200 yards passing in three of the first four games with an 8-3 touchdown/interception ratio.

Of course, the opposition should have been considered.

Once the meat of the schedule kicked in, the Cornhuskers had trouble against the best defenses in the Big 12. In their final eight games of the season, Nebraska had four touchdown passes and nine interceptions.

The Cornhuskers ended up 11th in total offense in the conference and eighth in scoring.

And against top 15 opponents Virginia Tech and Texas, the Cornhuskers produced no touchdowns and nine field goals in eight quarters of play. Those numbers must improve if the Cornhuskers have any hope of joining the national elite.

Down the stretch, the Cornhuskers found their offensive identity with a power rushing threat that featured a fullback and a tight end on most plays. It worked down the stretch as Nebraska manhandled its North Division rivals.

But it didn't work against Texas' No. 1 rush defense. Other than Lee's 17-yard quarterback draw to start the fourth quarter, the Cornhuskers produced no gains of longer than 7 yards and only four gains of 5 yards or more as they netted 67 yards on 35 carries.

The Cornhuskers struggled passing the ball, completing 6 of 20 attempts for 39 yards, three interceptions and one sack. They produced two passing gains of more than 10 yards.

The lack of explosive plays doomed the Nebraska defense, no matter how well it played.

The biggest surprise over the course of the season was freshman Cody Green, who was expected to challenge for the starting job after skipping his final semester of high school to get an early jump on the Cornhuskers' offense.

But it seemed that Green regressed over the course of the season as his playing time diminished down the stretch.

The Cornhuskers' defense pushed them to the Big 12 North title, playing at a level that was good enough to overcome the struggling offense.

But the charge for Pelini and his staff will be to recruit the athletes on offense that will boost the Cornhuskers to compete with schools like Texas and Texas Tech in South.

Pelini's team has made magnificent defensive progress in his two seasons coaching there. Their performance was enough to get them to the Big 12 title game.

But despite his anger directed towards Beebe after the game, his real vituperation might be saved after he watched his offense struggle.

The Cornhuskers came within a second of qualifying for a BCS bowl game this season -- if only they had a smidge of offense that could have challenged the top opponents on their schedule.