Nebraska Postgame Notes vs. Colorado

#16 Nebraska 45, Colorado 17
Friday, Nov. 26, 2010
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)

-Nebraska clinched its second straight trip to the Big 12 Championship Game with today's victory. This year will mark Nebraska's sixth appearance in the conference championship game, and marks the first time Nebraska has made back-to-back Big 12 title game appearances since the first two games in 1996 and 1997.

-Nebraska improved to 10-2 on the season, its first 10-win regular season since 2001. It is the 25th 10-win season in school history, including the second straight under Head Coach Bo Pelini. The two 10-win seasons in three years makes Pelini just the second coach in NU history to have two 10-win seasons in his first three years, joining Frank Solich. Pelini improved to 30-10 as Nebraska's head coach.

-Nebraska finished Big 12 play with a 6-2 record, the same mark it recorded last season. This is the first time NU has had back-to-back six-win conference seasons since 2000 and 2001.

-Today's game marked Nebraska's 120th and final Big 12 Conference regular season game. Nebraska finished with a 15-year regular season Big 12 record of 81-39, including 46-14 at home (with a win).

-Nebraska posted its third consecutive win over Colorado and its fifth in the past six games in the series.

-Nebraska finished with a 6-1 home record, its best single-season record at Memorial Stadium since also posting a 6-1 record in 2006.

-Sophomore I-back Rex Burkhead rushed 19 times for 101 yards in today's game, including numerous direct snaps in the Wildcat formation. Burkhead rushed seven times for 54 yards in the first quarter and had 98 yards before half, including a three-yard TD run early in the second quarter.

-Burkhead topped 100 yards for the third time this season (104 at Washington, 129 at ISU) and for the fourth time in his career, including 100 yards last season at Colorado. Burkhead pushed his season rushing total to 822, giving Nebraska three rushers with more than 800 rushing yards, including Roy Helu Jr. at 1,120 yards and Taylor Martinez at 974 yards. Nebraska has never had three 1,000-yard rushers in a season, and has had a pair of 1,000-yard rushers three times previously.

-Burkhead also threw a pair of touchdown passes on his first two career pass attempts. He threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Kinnie on his first career pass attempt late in the second quarter on a halfback pass to give Nebraska a 17-3 halftime edge. Burkhead later threw a four-yard TD pass to Kyler Reed out of the wildcat formation in the third period to give NU a 31-3 lead. Burkhead is believed to be the first non-quarterback in the modern era to throw for more than one touchdown pass in a game.

-Nebraska senior I-back Roy Helu Jr. rushed 15 times for 77 yards in today's game. Helu Jr. moved his season total to 1,120 yards. Helu Jr. also pushed his career rushing total to 3,289, moving him within 145 yards of Eric Crouch who sits in third place at 3,434 career yards.

-Nebraska rushed for 265 yards in today's game, marking its 10th 200-yard rushing effort in 12 games. Nebraska is 10-0 when rushing for 200+ yards this season.

-Junior receiver Brandon Kinnie caught two touchdown passes in today's game a 26-yarder from Burkhead in the second quarter and a 16-yarder from Cody Green in the third quarter. Kinnie has five touchdown receptions this season, including three at Oklahoma State and two in today's game. Kinnie finished the game with four receptions for 48 yards. Kinnie pushed his season receptions total to 40, just two shy of the single-season top 10.

-Sophomore tight end Kyler Reed caught his sixth touchdown pass of the season on a 1-yard reception from Cody Green in the third quarter, after hauling in a four-yard flip from Rex Burkhead earlier in the quarter. Each of Reed's first four touchdown receptions of the year covered at least 33 yards. He has scored a touchdown on six of his 17 receptions this season and his six TD catches are one shy of the top 10 on the NU single-season list.

-Senior receiver Joe Broekemeier made his first three career receptions today, covering a total of 34 yards.

-Nebraska did not commit a turnover in today's game, while gaining three Colorado turnovers which the Huskers turned into 21 points. It is the fourth time this season Nebraska did not commit a turnover and the +3 turnover margin is the best this season (previously +2 vs. Idaho).

-Senior place-kicker Alex Henery connected on a 42-yard field goal in the first quarter, and added six extra points in today's game to push his career scoring total to 388 points. He tied former NU place-kicker Kris Brown for first on the NU career list at 388 career points.

-Henery improved to a perfect 51-of-51 on PATs this season and to 16-of-17 on field goals. Henery is 8-of-9 this season from beyond 40 yards. Henery improved to 66-of-74 in his career on field goals.

-Junior linebacker Lavonte David finished with eight tackles, pushing his season tackle total to 128, moving him up to a tie for sixth with Demorrio Williams on the NU single-season chart. David is 21 tackles from the Nebraska single-season record of 149 tackles by Barrett Ruud in 2003. David added two pass breakups to push his season total to nine.

-Senior defensive back Eric Hagg intercepted his team-leading fifth pass of the season in the third quarter of today's game, and returned it 26 yards to the CU 4 to set up a touchdown. Hagg's five interceptions ranks in a tie for eighth on the NU single-season list.

-Senior defensive back DeJon Gomes intercepted a third-quarter pass for his third interception of the season and the seventh of his career.

-Gomes also returned a fumble 19 yards to the Colorado 3 in the fourth quarter to set up a Nebraska touchdown for a 45-17 lead.

-Prince Amukamara contributed two pass breakups to move into a tie for seventh on the NU season chart with 13. He ranks seventh on the NU career list with 27.

-Nebraska pushed its season interception total to 18, and the two picks today marked the fifth time this season Nebraska has had at least two interceptions in a game. 

-Nebraska extended its streak of not allowing a touchdown to 10 quarters before the Buffs scored a touchdown in the third quarter. The touchdown also ended a streak of 14 consecutive quarters at home without allowing a touchdown in a November home game (3 points each by OU and KSU last year and 3 by KU this season).

-Former Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh became the 17th Husker to have his jersey retired at halftime of today's game.

-Today's game captains were Nebraska's entire senior class. Prince Amukamara, Pierre Allen, Alex Henery and Keith Williams were present for the coin flip.