Texas lets QB Gilbert run around to beat No. 5 Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. - Garrett Gilbert got Texas out to a two-touchdown lead in the first half and its defense shut down Taylor Martinez to key a 20-13 upset Saturday, a crushing first defeat for No. 5 Nebraska.

"They had more pressure on them today than us, and that's unusual," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "I thought their fans hung in there with them. But I could feel some of their fans, when we got up 10-0 thinking, 'You've got to be kidding, not again.' "

The Huskers and the Nebraska faithful had been pointing to this game for 10 months, since last year's conference title game ended with one second put back on the clock - enough time for the Longhorns to kick the winning field goal in a 13-12 victory. Then Nebraska announced over the summer that it was moving to the Big Ten next year.

Texas has won nine of 10 meetings against the Huskers since 1996, with Nebraska's only win in the 1999 title game.

"We'll let the fans feel sorry for what happened," Huskers coach Bo Pelini said. "We have to take an experience like this and have it make us stronger. I know our team has a lot of character."

Texas (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) came in a 91/2-point underdog after two straight losses. But the Longhorns surprised Nebraska (5-1, 1-1) by turning Gilbert loose in the run game for the first time this season. The sophomore picked up 71 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He flummoxed the Huskers with quarterback draws and scrambles.

"We've been encouraging Garrett to make yards with his feet. He did that today," Brown said. "He maybe doesn't look like Vince [Young] or Colt [McCoy] when he's running the ball, but he's effective."

The Longhorns stymied a Nebraska offense that had been averaging 494 yards a game, holding the Huskers to just 202 yards. Still, the Huskers were within a touchdown late in the game thanks to Eric Hagg's school-record 95-yard punt return.

Martinez, who came in averaging 147 yards a game and almost 11 yards a carry, was held to a season-low 21 yards on 13 carries before being pulled for Zac Lee in the third quarter.