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LINCOLN, Nebraska (Ticker) -- Surrounded by a sea of red, Kansas State never had a chance. The fifth-ranked Wildcats' national championship dreams turned into a nightmare at the hands of No. 6 Nebraska as they suffered a 41-15 loss -- their 16th straight at Memorial Stadium -- bringing an end to a 27-game regular-season winning streak. "We weren't very good, not very good at all," Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. "I think, probably, in a lot of phases of the game. It was pretty obvious." In front of a sellout crowd of 77,744, the Cornhuskers took control of the Big 12 Conference's North Division race by completely dominating the previously unbeaten Wildcats, who have not won in Lincoln since 1968. "I would just like to congratulate our players, our coaches and our fans," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said. "This was just a tremendous win. I thought our team played very, very hard. We beat a very good football team." Nebraska (9-1, 6-1) can clinch the North Division and a spot in the league title game by winning at Colorado on November 26. "I think the timing of this victory makes it tremendously important," added Solich. "The fact that we beat an undefeated team and the fact that they were ranked very high are tremendous pluses for this program." Kansas State's 21-game conference winning streak also ended as it lost in the regular season for the first time since a 56-26 setback at Nebraska on October 4, 1997. The Wildcats (9-1, 6-1) went 11-0 during the 1998 regular season before falling to Texas A&M in the league title game. "We got ourselves into a position, or at least I let us be in a position to make some bad choices that probably let them score," said Snyder. "But we were just unable to get anything going." Quarterback Eric Crouch ran for two touchdowns and Nebraska's special teams turned in an outstanding performance, blocking a field goal, a punt and receiving a 23-yard punt return from Joe Walker to set up a score. "We had a really good week of practice and it showed today," Crouch said. "However, we still have some things to work on, we need to continue to work on holding on to the ball. I think our program made a big statement today, beating a top-five team and showing how good of a team we are." Kansas State was never in the game. Crouch opened the scoring 8:55 into the contest with a 30-yard touchdown run and the Cornhuskers added a safety moments later when they blocked a punt through the end zone. Following the free kick, Nebraska drove 73 yards in 11 plays and went on top, 16-0, when Crouch broke free for an 18-yard TD run with 23 seconds to play in the opening period. "This is Nebraska. You can't get behind like that," Wildcats wide receiver Quincy Morgan said. "They're not going to let you come back. They're going to keep kicking you." Crouch completed 8-of-17 passes for 69 yards and totaled 158 yards on 27 carries for the Cornhuskers, who racked up 378 yards of offense and held the ball for 33 1/2 minutes. Quarterback Jonathan Beasley's one-yard scoring run early in the second quarter got the Wildcats on the scoreboard, but the two-point conversion failed. Midway through the period, Willie Miller scored on a four-yard run for Nebraska and Frankie London ran for the two-point conversion that made it 24-6. Kansas State's Jamie Rheem booted a 35-yard field goal with 25 seconds left in the first half. After a scoreless third period, Josh Brown connected from 30 yards 2:26 in the fourth quarter for the Cornhuskers. Dahrran Diedrick raced 46 yards for a touchdown and linebacker Eric Johnson returned a fumble 15 yards for a score during the fourth quarter, when the Cornhuskers poured it on and turned it into a rout. The Wildcats offense was non-existent, manging just 234 yards and going three-and-out on their first five possessions of the second half. Adam Helm came on for Beasley late in the third quarter and ran for a one-yard touchdown during the final period. "I thought we played very well as a defense today," Nebraska rover Mike Brown said. "We did some things really good, but there were some things we could have done better. We stood up strong and made big plays all day and that was really gratifying." Kansas State's one bright spot was the play of Morgan, a junior who caught three passes for 116 yards. Beasley was just 3-of-19 for 100 yards before departing and Frank Murphy was held to 51 yards on 10 carries.
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