To inspire his team, a Colorado player beat a war drum before Saturday's game against Nebraska. The gimmick didn't work.
Tommie Frazier threw for a career-high 241 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score as the second-ranked Cornhuskers continued their domination of the No. 7 Buffaloes with a mistake-free 44-21 victory.Ahman Green ran for two touchdowns and Kris Brown kicked three field goals for Nebraska, which beat Colorado for the fourth straight year and extended the nation's longest winning streak to 21 games.
"The seniors stressed that we haven't lost to these guys, so we didn't want to lose this one," said Frazier, who completed 14 of 23 passes and ran 13 times for 40 yards.
The Cornhuskers, who never trailed after Green raced 57 yards for a touchdown on their first play from scrimmage, moved closer to a fifth consecutive Big Eight title and a chance to play for a second straight national championship in the Fiesta Bowl.
Colorado (6-2, 2-2 Big Eight) was hurt by 12 penalties and two interceptions, while Nebraska (8-0, 4-0) played a nearly flawless game with no penalties or turnovers.
"We had to play with emotion and we did. We had to play hard and we did. But we also had to play mistake-free and we didn't," Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel said.
"No penalties and no turnovers, I've never heard of that," said Colorado offensive guard Heath Irwin, who recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. "You've got to give them all the credit."
Instead of coming out through the tunnel, the Buffaloes walked through the student section of the stands on their way to the field. Then they gathered at midfield, raised their gold helmets and pointed toward the north end zone, where Colorado fullback Sulu Petaia was beating a Samoan war drum. Petaia, who is from American Samoa, is out for the season with a knee injury.
"I brought the team through the stands to try and give them a little bit of a distraction so they wouldn't sit in the locker room and think all the time about what we have to do," Neuheisel said.
But it was Nebraska that got off to a fast start before a record crowd of 54,063 at Folsom Field.
After forcing Colorado to punt on the opening series, the Huskers struck on their first play when Green took a pitch from Frazier, turned the left corner and sprinted down the sideline untouched.
"It got us off to a great start," said Green, a freshman who gained 97 yards on 18 carries.
After the Huskers built a 17-point halftime lead, Colorado pulled to 31-21 when John Hessler threw a 49-yard TD pass to James Kidd on a fourth-and-2 play in the third quarter. But the Huskers pulled away on two field goals by Brown and Frazier's 2-yard TD run with 2:46 left in the game.
"It was a real credit to our team," Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said. "Most teams would have crumbled at that point, but we hung in there."
Hessler was 21-of-43 for 276 yards and two TDs, but threw two interceptions.