Nebraska's Blackshirt defense showed no sign of distractions as they speaheaded a dominating Husker attack for a 17-3 Alamo Bowl victory over Michigan State.

The win capped a turbulent 10-3 season for the season that saw their head coach fired after the final regular season game, and threats of a player walkout prior to the bowl game. With interim head coach Bo Pelini at the helm, the Huskers were able to focus their emotions on the Spartans and their star quarterback Jeff Smoker. The senior Spartan signal-caller was a semi-finalist for the Davey O'Brien award, having passed for 3,239 yards and 21 touchdowns. Against Nebraska, however, Smoker was sacked five times, intercepted twice, kept out of the end zone and held to just 156 yards passing.

"I'm so proud of these guys," Pelini said. "With all the adversity and distractions, they found a way to focus and they played their tails off."

Nebraska's offense was also on target. Quarterback Jammal Lord, playing in his final Husker game, completing 8-of-17 passes for 160 yards,

I-Back Cory Ross rushed for a career-high 138 yards and two touchdowns on a school-record 37 carries. Ross, who broke the 100-yard mark for the third time in the last four games, scored on touchdown runs of 2 and 6 yards, as NU built a 14-point halftime lead.

The Husker defense set the tone on the very first drive. Defensive end Trevor Johnson sacked Smoker twice in the first three plays.

"They were coming, that's for sure," Smoker said. "If I wasn't running or getting sacked, I was getting hit right after I threw the ball."

After holding the Spartans on their first drive, the Huskers drove 47 yards in 11 plays, setting up David Dyches' 29-yard field goal to give NU a 3-0 lead. Ross had 37 yards rushing on the drive, which was helped by a pass interference penalty to keep the drive alive.

The Spartans came right back on their second possession, going 48 yards on 10 plays to set up Dave Rayner's 47-yard field goal to tie the game with 3:53 remaining in the quarter.

The Husker defense forced its first turnover as Daniel Bullocks intercepted Smoker and returned it to the NU 35-yard line. The Huskers quickly took advantage as Lord found Isaiah Fluellen for a 58-yard pass deep in MSU territory. Ross then scored two plays later from two yards, giving the Huskers a 10-3 lead. Fluellen caught a career-high four passes for 84 yards, while Ross Pilkington caught three passes for 70 yards.

The Huskers struck in the final minutes of the first half, as NU went 80 yards in just three plays to take a 17-3 lead. Lord, who carried 10 times for 79 yards, broke a career-long 66-yard scamper on the first play of the drive to the MSU 14-yard line. Ross capped the drive with runs of 8 and 6 yards, putting NU ahead 17-3.

The Huskers intensity wasn't limited to just the players. Pelini was flagged for an unsportsmalike penalty with 7:06 left in the game. Pelini confronted linesman Bill Scott after an apparent Smoker fumble was waved off. Pelini's tirade turned a fourth-and one at the 48 into a MSU first down. The Spartans tried to take advantage of their best opportunity of the half as they drove down to the Nebraska 17, but Pat Ricketts snuffed out the drive with an interception. The Spartan's last drive ended in much the same manner as Fabian Washington grabbed a Smoker interception with 1:08 remaining.

With the win Nebraska reached the ten-win plateau for the 24th time in school history. They evened their all-time bowl record to 21-21 and recorded their fifth straight win over the Spartans in as many tries.