Northwestern shuts off No. 10 Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Starting quarterback Dan Persa was on the sideline in the second half because of a shoulder injured in the second quarter, and Northwestern's maligned defense was doing all it could to hold off Nebraska.

Surely, most fans wearing scarlet and cream at Memorial Stadium were thinking it was just a matter of time before the No. 10 Cornhuskers took control of this game.

But the Wildcats hung on to upset Nebraska, 28-25, yesterday for their first win over a top-10 opponent in two years.

Second-string quarterback Kain Colter ran for two touchdowns and passed for another.

Just as important, a defense that had been allowing 32 points and 432 yards a game held up its end, limiting Rex Burkhead to 69 yards on 22 carries; Burkhead had 100-yard games in five of his previous six games.

"We got beat. It's that plain and simple," Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. "They outplayed us, they outcoached us."

The loss to the 17-point underdog Wildcats (4-5, 2-4) dropped Nebraska (7-2, 3-2) into a second-place tie with Iowa and Michigan in the Big Ten Legends Division.

"We had a great week of practice," Colter said, "came into the game with a great game plan and a lot of focus. We just went out there and executed."

Jeremy Ebert caught six passes for a career-high 147 yards and scored on an 81-yard pass that put the Wildcats up 21-10 early in the fourth quarter.

After the Huskers pulled to 21-18, Colter scored from the 1 with 1:34 left to finish a 13-play, 66-yard drive that chewed more than 7 minutes off the clock.

Taylor Martinez, who passed for 289 yards and two scores, hit Kenny Bell for a 14-yard touchdown with 18 seconds to play, but Charles Brown recovered the onside kick and Northwestern ran out the clock.-- AP