Nebraska 42, Tennessee 17

Ahman Green ran for a record 206 yards and two scores in coach Tom Osborne's final game as Nebraska made its final push for national championship consideration with a 42-17 blowout of number three Tennessee in the Orange Bowl at Miami, Florida.
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Ignored in the Heisman campaign, Nebraska QB Scott Frost has rushed for 1,095 yards and 19 TDs - then again, neither is so much as a team-high. RB Ahman Green has trumped those numbers, rushing for 1,877 yards and 22 scores, both just short of leading the nation. As a team, Nebraska leads the nation in rushing, averaging 63 carries for 393 yards. The Cornhusker defense, led by Lombardi Award winner Grant Wistrom, is the third-stingiest defense in the country against the run.

In the other corner sits Manning, who stuck around for his senior year and was rewarded with an SEC Championship, albeit a shaky win in the title game against Auburn. Manning's 36 TDs and 3,819 yards passing have NFL scouts drooling. But before he gets th e big paycheck, he has to survive the Cornhuskers. Speedy Marcus Nash is his main target, with 1,170 receiving yards and 13 TDs, while RB Jamal Lewis -- perhaps the best true freshman in the country - has rushed for an SEC-best 1,364 yards.

Nebraska may literally run over the Volunteers - the Cornhuskers average 59 more yards a game than any other school in the country. Tennessee's run defense is ranked eighth nationally, but it hasn't seen anything to rival what Nebraska will bring. Turnove rs might not necessarily doom either team - Nebraska had three in eking out a 45-38 overtime win against Missouri, and Tennessee shrugged off six turnovers against Auburn. The difference may be the intangible - Nebraska wants to wish Osborne off with a w in, while Tennessee often wants to just wish Phil Fulmer off.

Nebraska's running game has been remarkably consistent - in 12 games, the Huskers have no less than 335 rushing yards, and no more than 473. By comparison, Tennessee has rushed for 45 yards and 285 yards within a month's span. The difference is Lewis, who rushed for a total of 62 yards and 15 carries in his first three college games, then took over the offense, averaging 144 yards in the next nine games.