Huskies Avenge Earlier Loss, Dominate Nebraska 19-7

Chris Polk ran for 177 yards and a touchdown, and Washington's ferocious defense helped the Huskies record a 19-7 victory over 17th-ranked Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.

Jake Locker ran for 83 yards and a score while throwing for 56 yards for the Huskies (7-6), who avenged a 56-21 home loss to Nebraska earlier this season.

Washington, though, allowed the Cornhuskers only 189 yards of offense to record its first bowl win since the 2001 Rose Bowl against Purdue. This was the school's first bowl appearance since the 2002 Sun Bowl.

Taylor Martinez threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kyler Reed for Nebraska (10-4), which finished its Big 12 tenure with losses in three of its last four games. The Cornhuskers will join the Big Ten next year as one of many schools to switch conferences.

The Huskies scored enough points in the first quarter to win the game.

After recovering a fumble on Nebraska's first drive, Washington needed to go only 21 yards for its first touchdown. Locker caught a 17-yard pass from Jesse Callier on the first offensive play for the Huskies, and Polk ran it into the end zone from three yards away.

Nebraska went three-and-out on its next two series, and Erik Folk kicked a 39- yard field goal with 1 1/2 minutes left for a 10-0 Washington lead.

The Cornhuskers finally got on the board with a 10-play, 74-yard drive that ended on Reed's touchdown early in the second, but they never scored again.

Martinez threw an interception on the next drive, and Nebraska's last drive of the half ended in a punt.

Washington began the second half near midfield, and Locker's 26-yard pass to D'Andre Goodwin was followed by his 25-yard touchdown run for a 17-7 lead.

Nebraska, meanwhile, punted on its two possessions of the third quarter, and its first touch of the fourth ended in a safety after a holding penalty was called in the end zone.

While the score was only 19-7 with 13 1/2 minutes left in the fourth, the size of the deficit almost didn't matter for Nebraska, which continued to look miserable on offense.

The Cornhuskers went three-and-out after Folk missed a 47-yard field goal, and their last drive ended on a fourth-down incompletion by Cody Green from the Washington 44.

Washington had been 0-3 in the Holiday Bowl prior to Thursday...These two teams play each other again in Lincoln next season...Nebraska fell to 24-23 in bowl games...Washington recorded 340 yards of offense...Nebraska was called for 12 penalties, totaling 102 yards, while the Huskies committed three for 30.

North Carolina Beats Tennessee In 2OT 30-27

Casey Barth's 23-yard field goal in the second overtime lifted North Carolina to a wild 30-27 victory over Tennessee in the Music City Bowl at LP Field.

T.J. Yates connected on 23-of-39 throws for 234 yards and a touchdown in his last college game for the Tar Heels (8-5), who closed the season by winning their last two games.

"I thought we had lost three straight bowl games by one, two and three points," Yates said. "Somehow, we got an extra shot."

Shaun Draughn carried 23 times for 160 yards and a score while Ryan Taylor snared nine passes for 85 yards for North Carolina, which had lost three bowl games in a row since defeating Auburn in the 2001 Peach Bowl.

True freshman Tyler Bray completed 27-of-45 passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns for the Volunteers (6-7), who had won their last four regular season games.

Gerald Jones made nine catches for 89 yards and a score while Denarius Moore caught four balls for 69 yards for Tennessee, which leads the all-time series, 20-11-1. The teams met for the first time since 1961.

"There's a bunch of guys in there crying, and I told them I was proud of them," said Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley. "You don't always define yourself as a competitor or a man by results that happen. And this team I hope won't."

Trailing 17-14, the Vols took over on their own 37-yard line with 10:17 to go in the game. Three completions to Moore moved Tennessee to the UNC eight-yard line.

Two plays later, Bray rifled a TD pass to Justin Hunter on a play-action fake to finish off a 10-play, 63-yard march. However, Daniel Lincoln missed the extra point, which was costly.

Faced with 4th-and-20 at his own 44 on Carolina's next touch, Yates gunned a pass to Dwight Jones that would have been enough to keep the drive going, but the ball was dropped.

Tennessee took over but could not run out the clock and punted the ball to the Tar Heels, who began their ensuing drive from their own 20 with 31 seconds left.

On Carolina's first snap, Yates completed to Todd Harrelson for 28 yards, and a 15-yard defensive personal foul call was tacked on at the end of the play, moving the ball to the Vols' 37. The catch was upheld on review, allowing the drive to continue.

Yates then found Jones for 12 more yards with 16 seconds to go before Draughn ran to the 18. UNC was out of timeouts and tried to spike the ball as the field goal unit ran onto the field, and it appeared as though regulation time expired. The officials reviewed what had happened and determined that there was one second remaining, though North Carolina was penalized for having too many men on the field.

Barth then drilled the game-tying field goal from 40 yards out. Tennessee roughed him, and the penalty was assessed on the first UNC possession in overtime.

Starting at the Vols' 12, Yates capped off the first series with a one-yard sneak to make it 27-20. Tennessee responded on its second play when Luke Stocker made a leaping one-hand grab in the back of the end zone to tie it at 27 and keep the game going.

The Vols then moved to the 13 before Quan Sturdivant picked off Bray to set up the game-winning score.

Draughn ran for 16 yards on the Heels' first play and for three more on the next play before Barth came on to nail the decisive kick.

UNC started the scoring when Draughn took a pitch and ran over the left side for a career-long 58-yard touchdown just 4:02 into the game.

Tennessee tied the game with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter when Bray found a wide open Jones at the goal line from 29 yards out to end a nine-play, 75-yard drive that was kept alive by Tauren Poole's two-yard gain on 4th-and-1 on the prior play.

Zach Brown picked off a Bray pass and returned it all the way to the Vols' 10 with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half. North Carolina's drive stalled after three plays, and Barth's 28-yarder made it a 10-7 game with 10:24 remaining before the intermission.

The Vols took their first lead of the game with 90 seconds left before the break when Bray hit Da'Rick Rogers in stride inside the five, and the freshman found the end zone to finish off the 45-yard scoring strike.

However, the lead was short-lived, as Carolina answered right back with 27 ticks to go in the half. Yates rolled to his left and threw down the same sideline to Erik Highsmith, who made the catch inside the 10 and went into the end zone to make it a 17-14 contest.

North Carolina is 13-15 in bowl games...The Heels appeared in a bowl game for a third straight year, their longest streak since going to seven straight postseason games from 1992-98...Jones made five catches for 51 yards. The Vols are 25-24 all-time in bowl games. The 49 bowl appearances is good for second all-time along with Texas...Tennessee's 25 bowl wins are fourth all-time behind Penn State's 27 and the 31 victories by both Alabama and USC...The Vols are 7-7 against the ACC in bowl games...Hunter grabbed his freshman-record seventh TD of the season...Poole was Tennessee's leading rusher with 40 yards on 11 totes...Bray was intercepted three times.

2010 College Football Bowl Schedule: Nebraska And Tennessee Among Those In Action Today

The Bowl season continues with three more games for Thursday.  In early action, Syracuse is taking on Kansas State at Yankee Stadium in the Pinstripe Bowl.  If that doesn't get you excited - me neither - there are a couple of games later this evening that should keep you entertained.

First off, Tennessee plays what is essentially a home game against North Carolina in the Music City Bowl in Nashville.  For the Tar Heels it is a last chance to salvage what was supposed to be a strong season.  That all changed after the 'Heels started 0-2, then were buried behind a slew of NCAA sanctions for player involvement with agents.  

The NCAA's evaluation dragged well into the second month of the season and weighed heavily on the Tar Heels, who eventually saw the dismissal of senior defensive tackle and All-American candidate Marvin Austin and were handed permanent ineligibility rulings on top returning wideout senior Greg Little as well as first-team preseason All-American defensive end Robert Quinn and senior starting cornerback Charles Brown. UNC persevered under head coach Butch Davis to gain a bowl bid for the third straight year, managing to climb to 6-3 after a 37-35 win over then No. 24 Florida State on November 6th before dropping two of its last three to end at 7-5 and 4-4 in the ACC.

The Tar Heels are 12-16 all-time in bowl games with losses in each of their last three postseason appearances. UNC took part in the Meineke Car Care Bowl the last two years and suffered successive losses to West Virginia and Pittsburgh, in that order. The program's last bowl win came in 2001 -- a 16-10 triumph over Auburn in the Peach Bowl.

"I congratulate our team, and especially the 17 seniors, for the extraordinary job they've done in leading our program to a third consecutive bowl appearance," said Davis. "Regardless of the situation, this team fought week after week to make our fans proud. We look forward to representing North Carolina against a talented Tennessee team."

Tennessee came on strong to win its last four games and become bowl eligible at 6-6 with a 3-5 ledger in SEC play. The season was Derek Dooley's first as head coach after Lane Kiffin up and bolted after one year at the helm for the open position as head man at Southern California. Dooley has the historic UT program back in the postseason for a second consecutive year coming off a 37-14 loss to Virginia Tech under Kiffin in the 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Tennessee is 25-23 all-time in postseason play and making its 49th bowl appearance, which is tied for second in NCAA history alongside Texas. The Vols have alternated wins and losses in their last five trips to the postseason. Their last victory was a New Year's Day triumph in 2008 against Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl.

This will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1961 when UNC logged a 22-21 win. The Volunteers lead the overall series, 20-10-1. The two sides have never met in a bowl game or previously participated in the Music City Bowl, which is in its 13th year of existence.

Later tonight, the (17)Nebraska Cornhuskers take on the Washington Huskies in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.  The Huskies played the 'Huskers earlier this season with Nebraska coming out with a 56-21 win at UW.

The Cornhuskers rode a 6-2 conference record to a second straight Big 12 North title, but blew a 17-0 lead en route to a 23-20 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game on Dec. 4th. They finished the regular season with a 10-3 overall record.

This will be Nebraska's second consecutive appearance in the Holiday Bowl, after a 33-0 trouncing of Arizona in 2009's edition. The Cornhuskers currently hold a 24-22 all-time bowl game record, with this being their 47th bowl game appearance

Washington enters the Holiday Bowl in the midst of a three-game win streak. The Huskies defeated UCLA, Cal and Washington State to salvage a deteriorating regular season and secure their first bowl appearance since the 2002 Sun Bowl. They closed the 2010 campaign 6-6 overall and tied for third in the Pac-10 with USC, at 5-4.

Thursday's game against Nebraska will mark Washington's fourth appearance in the Holiday Bowl, were the Huskies previously faced Big 12 opponents Colorado, Kansas State and Texas. This will be Washington's 31st bowl game appearance, dating back to 1924. The team posts a 15-14-1 all-time record in such games.