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AMES, Iowa (Ticker) -- Colorado will get an opportunity to deny Nebraska a berth in the Big 12 Conference championship game. Bobby Pesavento threw a pair of touchdown passes as the 20th-ranked Buffaloes posted a 40-27 victory over Iowa State to set the stage for a showdown with the Cornhuskers the day after Thanksgiving. Colorado (8-2, 6-1 Big 12 North) trails Nebraska by one game, but should the Buffaloes beat the Cornhuskers, they would claim the division title based on a tiebreaker edge. "We wanted to come out and get this victory and set up the Nebraska game for the Big 12 North title," said running back Cortlen Johnson, who became the first player in Colorado history to surpass 100 rushing and receiving yards in the same game. "Us seniors wanted this bad. A lot of national media have been overlooking us, which is fine." Colorado has reeled off three straight wins since suffering a 41-7 setback at Texas on October 20. Jeremy Flores kicked three of his four field goals in the first half for the Buffaloes, while Bobby Purify and Johnson rushed for touchdowns in the second half. Johnson accounted for 277 yards of total offense. He rushed for 172 yards on 27 carries and caught six passes for 105 yards. "Our team is playing with a lot of confidence and we are not getting distracted," Colorado coach Gary Barnett said. "This is the way we have been playing lately." Pesavento has won three straight games in place of Craig Ochs, who has been sidelined by a concussion and a knee injury. Iowa State (5-4, 3-4) snapped a 16-game losing streak to Colorado last season in Boulder, but the Cyclones have lost nine in a row to the Buffaloes at home. Iowa State has dropped three straight this year after opening 5-1. "Gary Barnett has an excellent football team," Iowa coach Dan McCarney said. "They were the better team out there on the field today. They made more plays than us today and that hurt us tremendously. They have earned their ranking that they have." The Cyclones grabbed a 14-10 lead after the first quarter on a one-yard TD run by Seneca Wallace, but Colorado took control with 23 unanswered points. Flores put the Buffaloes ahead with field goals of 48 and 25 yards in the second quarter before Pesavento and Johnson combined for a 50-yard TD on a screen pass just with 15 seconds left that gave Colorado a 23-14 halftime edge. "The screen pass before halftime was a big play," Barnett said. "We were just trying to get a field goal and we ended up getting a touchdown." After Purify's nine-yard TD run in the third quarter, Flores booted a 35-yard field goal to make it 33-14 with 8:35 left in the contest. Iowa State closed to 33-20 on Wallace's 23-yard TD pass to Jack Whitver with 4:22 left, but the Buffaloes sealed the win on Johnson's 15-yard TD run with 1:45 to go. "Our team has not let the litte things hinder us this season," Johnson said. "There will always be injuries and adversity, but this squad can fight through that." The Cyclones added a meaningless score on backup Chris Love's nine-yard TD pass to Lance Young with three seconds remaining. Pesavento completed 16-of-25 passes with 230 yards and no interceptions for the Buffaloes. Wallace completed 16-of-29 passes for 215 yards and an interception for the Cyclones, who have allowed 82 points in their last two contests. They suffered a 42-3 loss to Kansas State last week.
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