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SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- No. 3 Nebraska did not do enough to pass Virginia Tech for a shot at the national title. Another Big 12 Conference championship and a revenge win over No. 12 Texas will have to do. Quarterback Eric Crouch ran for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns and the defense kept Texas off the scoreboard in a 22-6 triumph in the Big 12 title game at the Alamodome. Barring an unforeseen change in the Bowl Championship Series rankings, Florida State and Virginia Tech are headed for the Sugar Bowl to play for the national title on January 4 in New Orleans. That means Nebraska (11-1) is going to the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona on January 2, likely meeting Tennessee. "We played four or five teams in the top 25; Virginia Tech has played one in the top 25, which is Boston College, and they've only been there a couple of weeks," said Nebraska coach Frank Solich in making his case. "You look at the schedule we played in the Big 12 and it's a very tough league to come out with no losses. "We feel that we could match up with anyone in the country. There are four or five teams that I feel you could line them up and they would all have a chance, but we will go with the system. Tennessee can also say that." The Longhorns (9-4) will in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day in Dallas, accepting the bid after the game. Despite the loss, Texas at least can take pride in the fact that its 24-20 win over Nebraska on October 23 kept the Cornhuskers from playing in the Sugar Bowl. Crouch carried 23 times and provided the Cornhuskers enough offense to overcome Texas, which turned over the ball four times and was limited to 173 total yards. "I know the only team that beat us was Texas, but now we beat everybody on our schedule," said Crouch, who completed 6-of-14 passes for 55 yards with one interception. "We are very capabale of playing in the title game." Correll Buckhalter got most of the work at I-back after Dan Alexander injured his right hand. He carried 20 times for 136 yards as Nebraska totaled 289 yards. Alexander, whose arm was in a sling and heavily bandaged to cover 13-15 stitches, had 29 yards on five carries before leaving. Major Applewhite completed 15-of-42 passes for 164 yards and was intercepted three times as Texas had its three-game winning streak against Nebraska stopped. No team had beaten the Huskers three straight times since Florida State did it four times from 1987-93. "I felt fine, we just didn't play well offensively today," said Applewhite, who earlier in the week said Nebraska had a vanilla defense. "There was miscommunication and other times I had guys in my face." "We really didn't get up for it until later in the week," said Nebraska rover Mike Brown of Applewhite's comments, which landed on the bulletin board. "Coach McBride wanted to pressure him (Applewhite) to see how he would react." Cornhuskers cornerback Ralph Brown III said Applewhite's remarks got the team fired up. "It was great motivation for our defense," he said. "We switched things up and confused him. We were up in his face all day. We blitzed on every down and didn't give him any time to look downfield." Kwame Cavil caught five passes for 90 yards but Texas got its only touchdown on defense. Cavil finished the season with 100 receptions. With 12:04 gone in the game, Nebraska had all the points it needed. Josh Brown kicked a career-best 42-yard field goal midway through the first quarter and Crouch's 31-yard TD scamper on 4th-and-1 made it 10-0. Josh Brown kicked a 21-yarder midway through second quarter to make it 13-0. On 3rd-and-15 after the ensuing kickoff, Applewhite could not handle an errant shotgun snap and the ball went out of the end zone for a safety and a 15-point Nebraska lead. "We were no-dimensional in the first half, we couldn't run it and we couldn't throw it," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "I thought we tried hard. At halftime, I didn't know who to yell at." Buckhalter ripped off a 55-yard run that set up Crouch's second touchdown, a four-yarder that increased the advantage to 22-0 with 10:12 left in the third quarter. The Nebraska defense continued to do its part thereafter but lost the shutout with 13:26 remaining in the game when cornerback Ahmad Brooks returned freshman Dahrran Diedrick's fumble 28 yards for a touchdown. Fullback Ricky Brown dropped a perfect pass from Applewhite on the conversion attempt. "There was a monkey on our back, but we got it off by winning the Big 12 championship," Mike Brown said. "I'm a senior and this is the first time I beat Texas. I can die now."
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