Related Links: Applewhite helps Texas rule Nebraska again 24-20 Game summary Top 25 roundup Big 12 roundup Forum: What is Texas' secret against Nebraska?
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"I wouldn't be surprised if we had the No. 1 recruiting class again next year -- just because of today," senior wide receiver Ryan Nunez said after No. 18 Texas rallied for a 24-20 victory Saturday over a team with national championship aspirations. "We beat the No. 3 team in the country on national TV. Everybody was watching."

Anybody who didn't missed something very special -- even on a day full of upsets among the nation's top teams.

"I've been the biggest fan of college football since I was a kid, and I probably still am," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "And that was one of the best football games I've ever seen. It's really a shame one team had to lose this game."

But he'll take the victory, which caps a grueling three-game stretch that included a loss at home to No. 9 Kansas State, a 38-28 victory over archrival Oklahoma after trailing 17-0 and a gritty comeback against Nebraska after falling behind 13-3 at halftime.

"This win might be bigger for us because it's today, after we've already lost to North Carolina State and Kansas State," Brown said. "We've got to be known for something this year and now we can hang around in the bowl picture.

"But this game really gets our name back on the national scene and that's key for this state and the Big 12. After the demise of the Southwest Conference, we were put in a position where kids were leaving the state to play football somewhere else."

Now more prospects in this football factory of a state might be inclined to say home and sing The Eyes of Texas, as the Longhorns did Saturday in front of a record crowd of 84,082 at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. It is the largest crowd ever to watch a football game in the state of Texas.

Maturing quickly after just two strong recruiting classes since Brown replaced John Mackovic in Dec. 1997, Texas won by playing a near flawless football game. It protected the ball while forcing three critical turnovers, all fumbles, one on the Longhorns' goal line when Cornell Buckhalter dropped the ball as he lunged into the end zone.

"We had our chances; we made too many errors," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said. "The turnovers were dramatic. Very, very costly. You can't turn the ball over, especially against a good football team, and expect not to get stung by it. Of course, that became the case.

"It was a tough loss, for our football team and for the football program."

Texas just towers over Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch on Saturday in a sterling defensive display.(AP)

Solich didn't help his team when apparent indecision on the sidelines forced sophomore quarterback Eric Crouch to call all three second-half time outs in non-critical situations. One came with the Cornhuskers needing 21 yards to convert on third down. He took the third one with 13:07 left to play in the game, leaving Nebraska helpless to stop the clock as the final seconds slipped away.

Meantime, Texas' offense, guided by quarterback Major Applewhite, overcame a sluggish start with three second-half touchdowns against what has been described as perhaps the best defense in Nebraska's glorious history. And that description comes from no less of an authority than former Cornhuskers coach Tom Osborne. In the finest hour of the season for the embattled Texas offensive line, the 'Huskers managed just one quarterback sack -- on the final play of the game as Applewhite ran out the clock.

And the Texas defense left Nebraska's attack with few options in a relentless pursuit of Crouch.

"When I saw Nebraska using trick plays," Brown said, "well... . That was two of the best defenses I've ever seen in college football just kicking the heck out of each other. I just figured if they were going to beat us, they were going to have to do it with the pass. We weren't going to let them beat us with the option."

In other words, the only program in the nation with both its offense and its defense ranked in the top 10 nationally among Division I-A schools played like it against a team that had been doing a lot of talking coming into the game.

Nebraska players had given Texas plenty of bulletin board material with talk of how they weren't about to lose three times in a row to the Longhorns. Revenge would be theirs, they said in so many unflattering words. In 1996, Texas knocked Nebraska out of the national championship race with a 37-27 victory in the inaugural Big 12 championship game. Last season, the 'Horns ended Nebraska's 47-game home winning streak with a 20-16 victory in Lincoln. Both times, Texas was unranked.

And even after the game, some 'Huskers weren't convinced.

"We came out today thinking we were the better team and I still think we are," wingback Bobby Newcombe said. "We just didn't get it done on the field today."

And the Longhorns? They weren't saying much.

"They were a national championship hopeful team," Applewhite said. "They had the opportunity to win today, and they didn't take advantage.

"We knew they were talking a lot during the week. But we also knew how important it was to do our talking on the field. The coaches told us we did a great job by keeping our mouths shut. But they didn't have to tell us that. We recruit the type of people here who won't do that."

And after Saturday, more of those recruits might just be humming a few bars of The Eyes of Texas.