Still, both teams remained undefeated and managed to clinch their coveted bowl bids Saturday. No. 3 Auburn, meanwhile, saw its 20-game winning streak snapped in a 23-23 tie against Georgia.
Nebraska (11-0, 6-0 in the Big Eight Conference) used fourth-quarter touchdowns by Damon Benning and Lawrence Phillips to nail down a 28-12 victory over Iowa State (0-9-1, 0-5-1) and a trip to the Orange Bowl in Miami.
For three quarters against Iowa State, Nebraska's national championship hopes wavered. Tailback Lawrence Phillips struggled for yardage against a fired-up Iowa State defense and the Cyclones trailed by only two points after Todd Doxzon connected with Calvin Branch on a 58-yard touchdown pass play with 3:42 left in the third quarter.
But the Cornhuskers retaliated with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to run their record to 11-0.
Nebraska will be returning what for it has been a house of horrors: the Cornhuskers have lost five straight games at Miami.
Penn State (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) spotted Illinois three first-quarter touchdowns and still recovered for a 35-31 victory that clinched the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl trip to Pasadena, California.
Brian Milne capped the comeback on a 2-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds remaining as the Nittany Lions staged their biggest recovery sincr 1923 and extended their winning streak to 14 games.
In Sunday's Associated Press college football poll, Nebraska maintained its lead over second-place Penn State, and Alabama climbed to No. 4. The Cornhuskers topped the Nittany Lions 39-23 in first-place votes and hold an overall lead of 18 points in the media poll, Nebraska and Penn State also are 1-2 in the USA Today-CNN coaches' poll.
In other games Saturday:
No. 3 Auburn 23, Georgia 23. At Auburn, Matt Hawkins missed a 44-yard field goal with 13 seconds remaining, ending Auburn's winning streak at 20 games and dashing hopes of a national championship for Terry Bowden's team. The Tigers are 9-0-1, but are on probation.
No. 5 Miami 17, Pittsburgh 12. At Miami, the Hurricanes (8-1, 5-0 Big East) outlasted upset-minded Pitt (2-8, 1-5) in the rain. But the 33-point favorites kept their national championship hopes alive despite four turnovers and a scoreless second half.
No. 6 Alabama 29, No. 23 Mississippi St. 25. At Mississippi, Jay Barker passed for 325 yards and three touchdowns in leading a comeback for Alabama (10-0).
No. 8 Florida State 23, Notre Dame 16. At Florida State, the Seminoles (8-1) gained 332 of their 517 yards on the ground against Notre Dame (5-4), despite the close score. Notre Dame's loss was its third in four games.
More Results: See Scorecard
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