Charles rushes for career-high 290 yards in win over Huskers

 

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• Texas Holds On To Beat Nebraska 28-25

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Texas reeled off three straight unanswered touchdowns to start the fourth quarter, erasing a 17-9 deficit and proving that, in fact, the Horns did know where the end zone was. Gameball goes to... Jamaal Charles. Charles was Texas' offense, carrying the ball 33 times for an eye-popping 290 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Stat of the game... 100. The hard-fought win over Nebraska was Horns coach Mack Brown's 100th career win on the Texas sideline. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	20	25
Total Yards	447	545
Passing	315	181
Rushing	132	364
Penalties	9-59	3-25
3rd Down Conversions	6-17	7-16
4th Down Conversions	2-2	0-0
Turnovers	1	1
Possession	30:28	29:32

Air/Ground Leaders
Nebraska Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Keller 23/35 298 2 0 Ganz 2/3 17 1 0	Texas Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT McCoy 12/28 181 0 1 Team 0/1 0 0 0
Nebraska Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Lucky 24 111 0 33 Helu 5 14 0 7	Texas Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Charles 33 290 3 86 McCoy 11 55 0 24
Nebraska Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Swift 6 112 2 35 Hardy 1 56 0 56	Texas Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Cosby 5 113 0 36 Jones 4 33 0 14

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				NEB	TEX
	FG	03:05	Ryan Bailey 38 Yd Drive: 8 plays, 60 yds, 2:04	0	3
SECOND QUARTER				NEB	TEX
	FG	13:41	Alex Henery 31 Yd Drive: 11 plays, 50 yds, 4:18	3	3
	TD	00:36	Nate Swift 24 Yd Pass From Sam Keller (Alex Henery Kick) Drive: 8 plays, 80 yds, 2:34	10	3
THIRD QUARTER				NEB	TEX
	TD	12:32	Nate Swift 23 Yd Pass From Sam Keller (Alex Henery Kick) Drive: 5 plays, 80 yds, 2:28	17	3
	FG	03:56	Ryan Bailey 47 Yd Drive: 11 plays, 36 yds, 3:31	17	6
	FG	00:02	Ryan Bailey 49 Yd Drive: 5 plays, 33 yds, 2:01	17	9
FOURTH QUARTER				NEB	TEX
	TD	12:23	Jamaal Charles 25 Yd Run (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed) Drive: 4 plays, 74 yds, :50	17	15
	TD	07:33	Jamaal Charles 86 Yd Run (Two-Point Run Conversion Failed) Drive: 3 plays, 98 yds, 1:19	17	21
	TD	03:34	Jamaal Charles 40 Yd Run (Ryan Bailey Kick) Drive: 6 plays, 65 yds, 2:34	17	28
	TD	01:55	Maurice Purify 4 Yd Pass From Joe Ganz (Joe Ganz Pass To Nate Swift For Two-Point Conversion) Drive: 9 plays, 60 yds, 1:35	25	28

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Once Texas figured out it should be running against one of the nation's worst run defenses, things turned out all right for the Longhorns.

Jamaal Charles ran for a career-high 290 yards -- 216 yards and three long touchdowns in the fourth quarter -- to carry the Longhorns (No. 19 BCS, No. 17 AP) to a 28-25 win on Saturday.

The Cornhuskers fourth straight loss, their longest streak since 1961, is sure to put more heat on beleaguered coach Bill Callahan, whose future with the Huskers beyond this season is in the hands of former coach and interim athletic director Tom Osborne.

For Texas coach Mack Brown, the win was No. 100 with the Longhorns.

"A hundred is nice," Brown said. "I knew the game was going to come down like it did. It didn't surprise me. They made sure that I'll remember it the rest of my life."

The Longhorns spent three quarters trying to pass against one of the worst rush defenses in the country and Nebraska (4-5, 1-4) led 17-9 to start the fourth behind two touchdown passes from Sam Keller to Nate Swift.

Then Texas started using the zone-read option and the running game quickly started piling up yards and points. Three running plays covered 75 yards on Texas' first touchdown drive and Charles' second TD gave Texas its first lead since the first quarter.

"It was my time to show everyone what I can do," said Charles, who now has 1,012 and 11 TDs this season. "When I saw a hole, I blasted through it."

Charles passed Oklahoma's Billy Simms' 247 yards in 1979 as the most yards gained against the Cornhuskers. He broke free for touchdown runs of 25, 86 and 40 yards in the and his rushing total was the fourth highest in Texas history.

"It was a huge relief to see a running back breaking away down the field," said Texas guard Chris Hall. "In the fourth quarter we popped a few."

Texas turned exclusively to its running game almost by chance and only after a hard hit on quarterback Colt McCoy.

McCoy was shaken up when he scrambled outside the pocket and the Longhorns were forced to use freshman John Chiles. His one play, a zone-read handoff to Charles, produced 24 yards and suddenly Texas had figured out how to beat a Cornhuskers' team that had been steamrolled on the ground in recent weeks. Texas only threw three passes in the fourth quarter.

"When I got back in the huddle I could see the fire in the linemen's eyes," McCoy said. "I could tell there was something different. It seemed like we had the momentum from that point on. It was big for us."

ESPN GAME OF THE WEEK
The ESPN Classic Game of the Week will feature Nebraska vs. Texas on Sunday at 9 a.m. ET.

The Cornhuskers, whose season only gets worse every week, showed some fight after being outscored 122-34 in their last three games. They desperately tried to hang onto their lead and nearly rallied at the end.

"It was real heartfelt. I thought they gave everything they had," Callahan said.

Keller connected with Swift for scores from 24 and 23 yards out. The defense dogged McCoy most of the afternoon with a fierce pass rush that blitzed nearly every play and delivered several hard hits.

Keller was knocked out of the game late and Joe Ganz fired a 4-yard TD pass to Maurice Purify with 1:55 to play. A 2-point conversion pass cut the Texas lead to 3 but the Longhorns' Brandon Foster recovered the onside kick.

"We've never been so sick of losing in our entire lives," Huskers defensive back Ben Eisenhart said. "We're so tired of losing and going to class and everybody asking you questions and it's just a real downer."

It was four years ago against Nebraska that Texas unveiled its zone read with quarterback Vince Young and the Longhorns rolled to a 31-7 victory, a game that helped push former Cornhuskers coach Frank Solich out of his job.

Texas has moved away from that offense with McCoy who's not the same running threat Young was. Yet the Longhorns seemed to have paid little attention to how teams have battered the Nebraska defense on the ground this season. The Longhorns had more pass attempts (18) than rushes (17) in the first half and managed only one field goal.

McCoy, who was 12-of-28 for 181 yards, didn't throw a touchdown pass for the first time this season.

"It took a whole half to figure out what was going to work," McCoy said. "I've never been in a game where they blitzed every play."