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Back again Nebraska to play Tennessee in Fiesta Bowl
Posted: Friday December 10, 1999 08:01 PM
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Nebraska is headed back to the Fiesta Bowl. The No. 3 Cornhuskers found out officially Sunday that their 22-6 win over Texas in the Big 12 championship game Saturday at the Alamodome was not enough to pass up No. 2 Virginia Tech in the final Bowl Championships Series ratings. Nebraska (11-1) will play defending national champion Tennessee (9-2) on Jan. 2 in Tempe, Ariz. The Huskers, hoping a convincing win over Texas could move them up in the final BCS ratings, made a few final pleas Saturday, but seemed to have accepted the Sugar Bowl and top-ranked Florida State was not an option. "If you think about it, there's not a team on our schedule that we didn't beat this year. As far as this football team is concerned, we're probably one of the best teams in the country," said quarterback Eric Crouch, who rushed for two touchdowns Saturday. "The system's going plug those things out. We've got to go with what we've got." The Huskers' last appearance in the Fiesta Bowl was after the 1995 season, when they routed Florida for their second straight national championship. Nebraska has only played Tennessee once, beating the Volunteers 42-17 in the Orange Bowl two years ago to clinch a share the Huskers' third national title of the decade. "We're going to have a tremendous challenge in the University of Tennessee," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said. "Tennessee is the type of football team that could probably play in the championship game." Nebraska was hoping to win a fourth title this season. After stumbling at Texas in a loss in October, the Huskers gradually moved back up in the BCS standings by continuing to win and getting some upsets in other games. But, Nebraska lost ground again after the final game of the regular season by letting a 24-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter at Colorado before winning in overtime, 33-30. Computer experts predicted last week that Tech's 1.54 lead in the BCS standings -- a combination of polls, computer rankings, strength of schedule and losses -- was too much for Nebraska to overcome. They were right. Tech's final BCS rating was 6.12 points, still well ahead of Nebraska's 7.42 points. The Huskers said all week they would worry first about Texas and let the BCS take care of itself. Nebraska took care of the Longhorns, who were the only team to beat the Huskers this year, by shutting down All-Big 12 quarterback and conference player of the year Major Applewhite. Nebraska sacked Applewhite seven times and didn't allow an offensive touchdown for the fourth time this year. Correll Buckhalter rushed for 136 yards and Josh Brown kicked two field goals for the Huskers, who had lost three straight to Texas. The Cornhuskers were disappointed that they wouldn't be playing for another national championship, but tried to remain positive after winning their second Big 12 title, something no team has done in the league's four-year existence.
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