Texas 37
Nebraska 27

Dec. 7, 1996 • 12:10 p.m. Central
Big 12 Championship Game • St. Louis, MO • ABC
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Nebraska1077327
Texas71331437

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First quarter
TEX: P Holmes 5 run (Dawson kick) 11:25
NEB: Evans 2 run (K Brown kick) 2:24
Second quarter
TEX: FG Dawson 49, 11:50
NEB: FG K Brown 51, 8:39
TEX: P Holmes 61 run (Dawson kick) 7:24 
NEB: Evans 23 run (K Brown kick) 2:23
TEX: FG Dawson 30, 1:00
Third quarter
TEX: FG Dawson 47, 8:30
NEB: Evans 6 run (K Brown kick) 2:11
Fourth quarter
NEB: FG K Brown 24, 10:11
TEX: McGarity 66 pass from J Brown (Dawson kick) 8:53 
TEX: P Holmes 11 run (Dawson kick) 1:53

                         NU       TEX 
First downs              26        22 
  By rushing             15         6
  By passing             11        14
  By penalty              0         2
Rushed-yards         63-243    28-150
  Avg. per rush         3.9       5.4
  Yards gained          269       165
  Yards lost             26        15
Passing yards           155       353 
  Comp-Att-Int      15-24-0   19-29-2 
Total offense        87-398    57-503
  Avg. per play         4.6       8.8
Sacked-yards lost       0-0       0-0 
Return yards              7         6 
Punts                3-39.0    1-43.0 
Fumbles-lost            2-0       0-0 
Penalties-yards        5-35      4-24 
Time of possession    39:35     20:25
Third-Down Conv.      12/20       3/9
Fourth-Down Conv.       2/2       1/1

RUSHING:
NEB: Evans 32-130, Frost 18-47, Sims 5-32, Schuster 6-29, Makovicka 2-5.

TEX: P Holmes 9-120, Mitchell 7-16, R Williams 8-7, J Brown 4-7.

PASSING:
NEB: Frost 15-24-0-155.
TEX: J Brown 19-28-2-353, Mitchell 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING:
NEB: Evans 6-42, Holbein 3-43, Vedral 3-35, Wiggins 1-15, Cheatham 1-11, Schuster 1-9.

TEX: M Adams 6-92, Fitzgerald 6-73, McGarity 3-96, R Williams 2-21, Lewis 1-61, D Scott 1-10.

ADDITIONAL STATS: PDF | TXT

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Big-play ’Horns stun Huskers, take Big 12 title

Unranked Texas came in to the Big 12 Championship Game as a heavy underdog but pulled off a shocking 37-27 upset of third-ranked Nebraska, thanks to several big plays and one gutsy gamble.

The loss ended the Huskers’ hopes for a third consecutive national title.

After the two teams matched scores through most of the first half, Texas kicked a field goal a minute before intermission to take a 20-17 advantage into the locker room.

A field goal midway through the third quarter extended Texas’ lead to 23-17. Nebraska responded with a 15-play, 71-yard drive capped by DeAngelo Evans’ third touchdown run of the game, and the Huskers led for the first time, 24-23.

NU padded its margin to 27-23 with a field goal about five minutes into the fourth quarter, but Texas answered less than 90 seconds later with a 66-yard touchdown pass from James Brown to Wane McGarity. The Longhorns now led by 30-27.

Nebraska drove inside the Texas 40 but stalled, and a Jesse Kosch punt pinned the ’Horns at their own 7 with 4:06 remaining. After Texas picked up a first down, the play of the game came with 2½ minutes left.

Texas faced fourth-and-inches just short of its own 29. The ’Horns led by three points but opted not to punt. And instead of running the ball up the middle, Texas surprised the Huskers by sending quarterback Brown on a rollout to the left, where he lobbed a short pass to a wide-open Derek Lewis. The Texas tight end rumbled down the sideline all the way to the Nebraska 11, and from there the ’Horns quickly scored the touchdown that iced their victory.

So explosive was Texas’ offense that the Longhorns amassed 503 yards to the Huskers’ 353 despite Nebraska’s nearly 2-to-1 edge in time of possession.

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Lincoln Journal Star
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Husker Press Box
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Austin Americfan-Statesman
Daily Texan
Brenham Banner-Press (2017)
Associated Press
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Pregame & team info
1996 schedule
04/20Reds 20, Whites 17
09/07Michigan St.W 55-14
09/21@ Arizona St.L 0-19
09/28Colorado St.W 65-9
10/05@ Kansas St.W 39-3
10/12BaylorW 49-0
10/19@ Texas TechW 24-10
10/26KansasW 63-7
11/02@ OklahomaW 73-21
11/09MissouriW 51-7
11/16@ Iowa St.W 49-14
11/29ColoradoW 17-12
12/07TexasL 27-37
12/31Virginia TechW 41-21
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