Nebraska holds off Penn State rally

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- If they didn't know better, fans in Happy Valley would have thought they were watching Joe Paterno's team.

No. 12 Penn State played tough defense and basic offense. The Nittany Lions fought back when they were down, trying to rally from a 17-point deficit against No. 19 Nebraska yesterday.

But time expired on a 17-14 loss to the Cornhuskers after a fourth-down pass by Matt McGloin fell harmlessly to the ground. McGloin and his teammates soon turned toward the tunnel to file back to the locker room. Most were silent. Some had blank stares.

"I was awful proud," said interim coach Tom Bradley, who took over this week for the 84-year-old Paterno. "They got down 17-0. They didn't quit. They hung tough."

Rex Burkhead ran 25 times for 121 yards and a touchdown for Nebraska (8-2, 4-2 Big Ten) before the Nittany Lions (8-2, 5-1) scored 14 points on two second-half touchdown runs by Stephfon Green. But a key drive ended when Silas Redd was stopped on fourth down with 1:49 left at the Penn State 38.

The Corhuskers surged early, and Burkhead motored 14 yards into the end zone with 8:51 left in the third quarter for a 17-0 lead.

Then came the second-half push from Green on senior day -- his last game at Beaver Stadium. The senior scored from 5 yards with 5:07 in the third quarter, then on a 6-yard run at 5:42 of the fourth to get Penn State within three. Green had 71 yards on 17 carries.

But the offense faltered on two late drives, including the fourth-and-1 stop of Redd. Out of timeouts with 49 seconds left, the Nittany Lions got the ball back but could get no farther than their own 46 before McGloin's final incompletion.

-- AP