.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Nebraska figured there would be bumps in the road in its first season in the Big Ten. Northwestern wasn't supposed to be one of them.
The 19th-ranked Cornhuskers might look back at Saturday's 28-25 loss to the Wildcats as the one that cost them a spot in the first Big Ten championship game.
They controlled their fate after the previous week's win over Michigan State, but now sit a three-way tie with Michigan and Iowa for second place behind the Spartans in the Legends Division.
Nebraska (7-2, 3-2) is about to begin a treacherous final stretch, with back-to-back road games against Penn State and Michigan and a home game against Iowa.
''We're going to try to win out,'' coach Bo Pelini said, ''and see what happens from there.''
Nebraska players admit they saw the Northwestern game as a gimme, and they ended up losing to an unranked opponent at home for the fifth year in a row.
The Wildcats (4-5, 2-4) had lost five straight before they beat lowly Indiana, and their defense had posted some of the worst statistics in the nation.
''We just laid an egg,'' defensive end Eric Martin said.
Nebraska's offense committed two turnovers, including one at the Northwestern 5-yard line. The defense couldn't rein in Northwestern's running game, which produced 207 of the Wildcats' 468 total yards.
Asked if he and his teammates underestimated Northwestern, Martin said: ''Yeah, you could say that.''
Quarterback Taylor Martinez said: ''We didn't come out to play. Maybe we overlooked Northwestern for Penn State.''
Martinez completed 28 of 37 passes - a .757 completion percentage that was the best of his career - for 289 yards and two touchdowns. He connected on 12 passes in a row between the second and fourth quarters, and it was the third 200-yard passing game of his career.
With 342 yards of total offense, Martinez moved past stars such as Turner Gill and Mike Rozier on the school's career chart. He ranks No. 9 all-time with 4,853 yards.
''Taylor did some good things,'' Pelini said. ''I think there were some things he could've done better. I thought he had a couple misreads in the zone-read game. I thought overall he seemed like he played a pretty good game.''
Kenny Bell had five catches for a team-leading 58 yards, but he also had two drops.
''As a wide receiving corps we didn't get it done today,'' Bell said. ''That's on us. (Martinez) did a good job. We need to get better.''
The Huskers couldn't get much going on the ground. Nebraska finished with a season-low 122 rushing yards on 35 carries, marking just the third time this season Nebraska did not rush for at least 200 yards.
Burkhead ran for 69 yards on 22 attempts and was limping noticeably on his left leg after the game.
''I felt like I could make runs that I didn't,'' Burkhead said. ''I honestly didn't play very well. I didn't hit the holes right. We knew we had a challenge coming in. Coming off the big win last week, that was very frustrating.''
The defense's performance also was frustrating, Pelini said. Northwestern had 16 plays from scrimmage go for 10 yards or more.
''We got beat. We blew coverage, we played undisciplined,'' Pelini said. ''We had a couple opportunities to get off the field and they run a little pivot route and get 35 yards on it. At the end of the day, you've got to make plays. You've got to cover somebody and make the tackle. We had our opportunities. We didn't play well enough to win, period.''
