At half time in their game against Oklahoma State the Nebraska Cornhuskers sported a 31-0 lead, had over 100 yards in both passing and rushing. Meanwhile their defense held OSU to 45 yards rushing, did not allow a completed pass, recovered a fumble and blocked a punt. But when your team is in the hunt for a National Championship the coaches are always looking for areas to improve.

"I thought we did perform well in the first half on offense and defense. The second half was different." said Husker head coach Frank Solich. "We kind of lost momentum in the second half."

Oklahoma State scored two second half touchdowns including the first rushing touchdown given up by the Huskers this season. The Cowboys beefed up their stats to 188 yards rushing and 85 passing mostly against the Husker reserves. For their part, the Huskers added one second half touchdown.

"We played outstanding football in the first half, but I think they beat us in the second half of the game." said NU Defensive Coordinator Charlie McBride. "Our first unit showed a lot of character, but I'm disappointed in our back up players."

In the first four games of the year the Huskers had not given up a rush longer than 18 yards. In the second half Oklahoma State peeled off runs of 30 and 35 yards.

"We didn't play four quarters of good football today, but we did play good football for a decent share of the game." Solich said.

The concern over the team's second half performance wasn't limited to just the coaching staff.

"I think our first half was awesome but our second half stunk." said rover back Mike Brown. "We weren't playing our responsibilities and we weren't paying attention to the mental parts of the game and we made a lot of mistakes."

Oklahoma State was the first team to rush for over 100 yards against the Huskers (188 yards). Of the Cowboys 273 yards of total offense, 161 yards came from plays of 25-yards or more.