Nebraska beats K-State 17-3, clinches Big 12 North

By ERIC OLSON AP Sports Writer

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Roy Helu Jr. ran 26 times for 95 yards and a touchdown, and Nebraska defeated Kansas State 17-3 to win the Big 12 North on Saturday night.

The Huskers (8-3, 5-2) will play in the conference championship game for the first time since 2006 and fifth time in the Big 12's 14 years. They'll face the South champion Dec. 5 in Arlington, Texas.

Kansas State (6-6, 4-4) ended its season with losses in three of its last four games. Because two of the Wildcats' wins were against lower-division teams, they needed to beat Nebraska to become eligible for a bowl game.

The Huskers' Zac Lee completed 13 of 19 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown. Helu, who has 1,057 yards, gave them a two-touchdown lead early in the third quarter with his 14-yard run.

Daniel Thomas ran 19 times for 99 yards for Kansas State, and Grant Gregory was 11 of 31 for 126 yards. But the Wildcats failed to score a touchdown for the second straight game despite their offense spending most of the second half on Nebraska's side of the 50.

Three scoring opportunities were lost when Keithen Valentine fumbled at the Nebraska 1 and Josh Cherry missed field goals of 51 and 32 yards.

The Wildcats, trailing by two touchdowns, drove to the Nebraska 25 in the last 4 minutes, but Ndamukong Suh and Barry Turner teamed up to sack Gregory and the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs when Gregory led Brandon Banks too much on a ball thrown toward the end zone.

The Huskers took over with 3:41 left and were able to run out the clock for their fourth straight win after Lee sneaked for a first down on fourth-and-1 from his own 36.

Kansas State's only points came at the end of the game's opening series, when Cherry kicked a 44-yard field goal.

Nebraska settled for Alex Henery's 34-yard field goal after Lee overthrew Mike McNeill in the corner of the end zone on the Huskers' opening possession.

Lee hooked up with McNeill the next time the Huskers had the ball to put Nebraska up 10-3. McNeill slipped open and snagged the high pass over the middle for a 17-yard touchdown two plays after K-State linebacker John Houlik drilled Lee out of bounds for a 15-yard penalty.

The Huskers were in position to add to their lead after driving to the K-State 5, but Lee was sacked by Jeff Fitzgerald and Tysyn Hartman intercepted him in the end zone.

K-State's best scoring chance came after Helu's 14-yard touchdown run gave Nebraska a 17-3 lead early in the third quarter. The Wildcats drove to the Nebraska 13, where they faced third-and-9. Gregory flipped a short pass to Valentine, who had the ball popped loose by safety Larry Asante just before he crossed the goal line. Prince Amukamara recovered for the Huskers.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)