Texas Gets Second Chance at BCS Title; Do They Deserve It?

ARLINGTON, Texas -- So the debating has surely, and maybe, rightfully begun.

Are the third-ranked Texas Longhorns really deserving of the spot opposite Alabama in next month's BCS National Championship Game? Is TCU or Cincinnati more deserving?

Those are the questions being kicked about after Saturday's night Big 12 Championship Game in which the Longhorns needed one more second courtesy of an official's instant replay review of the play clock in order to escape 21st-ranked Nebraska with a 13-12 win at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

One moment the Cornhuskers were on the field celebrating the season's biggest upset as time appeared to have expired while Texas quarterback Colt McCoy scrambled before throwing the ball away at the Nebraska 29-yard line. The next moment it was the Longhorns turn to rush the field.

When the officials reviewed the play, they found one second remaining which was just enough time for place-kicker Hunter Lawrence trot out and boot a 46-yard game winner as time expired that all but saved the BCS from spinning into complete chaos.

It was also major swing of emotions for the Longhorns.

"When we saw Colt throw the ball, it did look like it was time left, but it's never good when something is in something other than the team's hands," said UT defensive end Sergio Kindle. "Hopefully, we were thinking that the Lord saw the clock on the one and that the ref was going to stay true to his morals. Since we got it I have confidence in all our guys, once those guys get out there we call them Team Automatic and that's what they were today."

Because the unit was, there is no doubt in the minds of the Longhorns what's next.

"I am really proud of the guys and excited about playing Alabama for the national title," said UT coach Mack Brown.

But there is a strong chorus that will argue after such a poor offensive performance in which McCoy almost certainly played himself out of the Heisman Trophy race with three interceptions and just one touchdown drive.

Whatever the feelings are, however, it's almost a forgone conclusion that when the BCS pairings are revealed Sunday that undefeated Texas (13-0) will leap from No.3 in last week's BCS poll to one of the top two spots to set up a clash with the Crimson Tide in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 7.

The Longhorns and the BCS can personally thank the Cornhuskers' offensive ineptness and complete meltdown at the end for helping save a great deal of anxiety leading up to the BCS pairings. Nebraska place-kicker Alex Henery converted a 42-yard field goal -- his fourth of the night -- to put the Cornhuskers comfortably ahead 12-10 with 1:44 remaining. But on the ensuing kickoff, Adi Kunalic kicked the ball out of bounds to give the Longhorns the short field at their own 40.

On the next play, McCoy hit Jordan Shipley for a 19-yard pass play and then a 15-yard penalty was assessed for Larry Asante's horse collar tackle that put the ball on Nebraska's 26. That was close enough for Hunter, but the Longhorns took a couple more unsuccessful attempts before the game-winning field.

Before then, the Cornhuskers had a played brilliant defensive game behind the aggressive play of its defensive front led by defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who became a legitimate Heisman Trophy consideration after his dominant performance along the defensive line Saturday night. Nebraska sacked McCoy nine times and limited the Longhorns to just 18 yards rushing and 202 total yards for the night.

"My initial emotion is very unfortunate the way things unfolded," said Suh, who led the Cornhuskers with 12 total tackles (10 solo), 4.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries. "but I mean, I think this team played very, very, very hard and that's all we can really do.

"Like our coach says, the chips fall where they fall."

After staring a BCS bowl berth in the face, that means the Cornhuskers (9-4) are likely headed to the Holiday or Sun Bowl. The Longhorns will be the lone Big 12 representative in the Big 12 mix after winning their 25th game in 26 tries over the last two seasons and with this senior class going 19-4 in games decided by three or fewer points.

"These guys know how to win," said Brown, whose team is heading back to the BCS national title game for the first time since winning it all in 2005. "They've got tremendous character. They never give up."

But as much as Brown wanted to make clear that his team deserved a shot at the BCS national title after not getting a chance to make its case last season, he also seemed to understand there would be some doubters when the human voters go to cast their votes after watching what appeared to be a disappointing performance.

But as inconsistent as the Longhorns offense played, their defense played superbly. Nebraska's shaky offense never got much going and the four field goals came after McCoy's three interceptions and a 46-yard punt return by Paul Niles down to the UT 10 early in the fourth quarter.

Nebraska's pedestrian offense finished the night with five first downs and just 106 total yards on 55 plays from scrimmage.

"It was a defensive football game," Brown said. "They made a couple of plays in the kicking game."