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Nebraska Cornhuskers © |
Colorado Buffaloes |
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Played November 28, 1997 at Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Nebraska © | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | ||||
| Colorado | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | ||||
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Nebraska |
3 |
7 |
17 |
0 |
27 |
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Colorado |
0 |
3 |
7 |
14 |
24 |
The 5-5 Colorado Buffaloes of coach Rick Neuheisel were 21-point underdogs as they welcomed the 2nd ranked, 10-0 Nebraska Cornhuskers of coach Tom Osborne. The ground game of the Cornhuskers dominated as All-Big XXI RB Ahman Green rushed for 202 yards & 2 touchdowns on just 15 carries as Nebraska retained The Belt with a 27-24 win in spite of two late touchdowns by Colorado. The Cornhuskers took the lead late in the 1st quarter when PK Kris Brown connected on a 25-yard field goal. Nebraska's QB Scott Frost pushed the lead to 10-0 when he scored on a 19-yard touchdown run early in the 2nd quarter but the Buffaloes got a 30-yard field goal from PK Jeremy Aldrich with 0:27 to play in the half. Green broke free for a 63-yard run to the Buffaloes' 16-yard line on the first play from scrimmage of the half & scored his first touchdown of the game on the next play to push the Cornhuskers' lead to 17-3. Colorado responded quickly scoring on their second play of the half with a 35-yard touchdown pass from QB John Hessler to RB Dwayne Cherrington. Green’s second touchdown came on an 11-yard touchdown run & Brown’s 46-yard field goal just before the end of the quarter gave Nebraska a 27-10 advantage. The Buffaloes did not appear to pose a threat to the Cornhuskers as their first three drive of the 4th quarter netted -20 yards but then the Colorado offense righted itself. Hessler connected with WR Marcus Stiggers on a 32-yard touchdown pass with 3:16 to play. Colorado recovered the on-side kick &, four plays later, Hessler found WR Robert Toler on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 2:37 left. Colorado was unable to recover the next on-side kick but the defense held & the Buffaloes got the ball back with 0:52 to play. When Colorado's All-Big XII WR Phil Savoy was called for a controversial offensive pass interference penalty, the hopes of a Buffaloes' comeback were ended. Frost finished with 76 yards rushing with 92 yards passing to become the first Division 1-A quarterback to pass & rush for 1000 yards in a season. Hessler finished with 362 yards passing with 3 touchdowns while Savoy had 6 catches for 107 yards. Nebraska finished the season 13-0; Big XII Champions, ranked 2nd nationally while the Buffaloes finished 5-6. Colorado has not played for The Belt again.
