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"I've got to tell you," the Texas coach said, "I was throwing up in my room all afternoon. This was the kind of game we could have very easily lost our focus. We saw a lot of good teams lose today. We saw what Nebraska did to Kansas State. We saw Texas A&M do what they did at Missouri. That's why I was real proud of this team for staying focused, playing so hard and playing so well."

On a day when four of the nation's top eight-ranked teams lost, the No. 10 Longhorns held serve with a 58-7 victory over Texas Tech that put Texas (9-2) in the Big 12 title game as champions of the conference's South Division.

Texas will play either Nebraska or Kansas State in the title game. Bet on Nebraska. Or at least hope for it. It would be a wonderful encore to a century-ending season in which Texas has re-established itself as one of the dominant teams in the land like it was for much of these 1900s. It did so by beating Nebraska -- for the third consecutive season -- in one of the most exhilarating games of the season. Final score: Texas 24, Nebraska 20.

That alone was once as unfathomable as what the Longhorns accomplished Saturday. Brown and his players know that better than anyone.

"I asked the players the other day how many of them thought they could win the Big 12 championship," Brown said. "About a third, maybe almost half of them raised their hands. But if I'd have asked them that after the North Carolina State game, they'd have looked at me like I was crazy."

N.C. State was Texas' opening day opponent and left Austin with a 23-20 victory that seemed to confirm what all the skeptics were saying about the Longhorns: In the absence of Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams, with just one starter returning on the offensive line on a very young and inexperienced team, they would struggle in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.

"We heard all the doubters," said sophomore quarterback Major Applewhite, surrounded by reporters. "Some of them are sitting right here. But that's their job."

Applewhite's job is proving them wrong, and that's what the Longhorns have been doing all season. And at no time have they put it all together as they did with Saturday's 504 yards of total offense and devastating defense that contributed a touchdown and special teams that set up two others.

With highly-touted Chris Simms looking over his shoulder and itching for playing time, Applewhite became the first Texas quarterback to surpass 3,000 yards in a season. He completed 22-of-34 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns -- the 21st consecutive game he has surpassed 200 yards in the air. His favorite target, Kwame Cavil, became only the second Texas receiver to surpass 1,000 yards with nine catches for 69 yards and a touchdown.

With Williams finding yardage harder to come by in the NFL, 5-foot-7, 190-pound Hodges Mitchell churned out 181 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries.

With nearly half its unit lost to graduation, the defense held Tech to 160 total yards, just 64 on the ground to a very good running team. It knocked out starting quarterback Rob Peters with a concussion, and left backup Kliff Kingsbury on his back and feeling woozy a few times. But its most important contribution might have been Lee Jackson's 22-yard touchdown after an interception that opened the floodgates.

"This is a great feeling, but it's just a stepping stone to where this team wants to be in the future," said Jackson, the sophomore strong safety.

And where would that be?

"Texas football, the way it used to be," Jackson said, "a powerhouse team that other teams respect when they have to play us."

They're getting close. But they're not there yet, Applewhite cautioned.

"All this proves is we're the best of six right now," he said. "All we've done, really, is give ourselves an opportunity to accomplish something special."

Mack Brown has his Longhorns ready to battle for the Big 12 championship. (AP)

But no one could dispute how special this team felt after raising a championship trophy Saturday, especially compared to its self-esteem after losing to N.C. State on Aug. 28.

"Light years," Applewhite said. "We were still searching for an identity, at least offensively. Now we have an identity. Now we feel like we can play with anybody in the country -- if we show up to play."

Brown concurred. "I've never seen a team improve this much," he said. "I'm shocked, really, and very pleased, by how much it's improved."

He went so far as to say this team, though much different in its chemical makeup, might even be better than the one that finished 9-3 last season with a 38-11 whipping of Mississippi State in the Cotton Bowl. Which might be what Fiesta Bowl officials were thinking as they watched Saturday's game as well.

"After the Cotton Bowl, I thought that team was about as good as any team in the country," Brown said. "But tonight, we did something that last year's team didn't do: We beat Texas Tech and we won the Big 12 South."

When Texas beat Nebraska, Brown had a premonition that the Longhorns hadn't seen the last of the Cornhuskers. "If we take care of our business, we just might see them again," he said of the Big 12 championship game in San Antonio.

Nebraska can advance with a win over Colorado on Nov 26. If the Huskers lose, Kansas State would go if it wins its season finale against Missouri next week. The Wildcats pummeled Texas, 35-17, on its own turf on Oct. 2.

So Brown might want to keep the Maalox ready, just in case.