LINCOLN — By the time Nebraska's players left the locker room after their 17-14 victory against Penn State Saturday, they'd already checked the Big Ten scoreboard.
The Huskers greeted family and friends before loading the team buses underneath Beaver Stadium, meeting with reporters along the way. But nobody needed to update them on the afternoon's results around the conference.
Iowa couldn't pull off the upset of Michigan State, falling 37-21. So the Spartans maintained their one-game lead on the Huskers, a margin in the Legend Division that Nebraska is hoping to erase with just two weekends left.
Nebraska can't make it to the Big Ten championship game unless Michigan State (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) loses. But NU (8-2, 4-2) cannot lose a game, either. Not at Michigan on Saturday or at home against Iowa on Nov. 25.
The Huskers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with MSU (credit a convincing 24-3 win on Oct. 29), but that fact is useless unless an opponent — either Indiana or Northwestern — takes down the Spartans.
"Just hopefully Michigan State can lose," NU quarterback Taylor Martinez said. "Right now, we're just taking each game at a time and hopefully we get to that Big Ten championship."
Said junior defensive tackle Cameron Meredith: "If Michigan State loses, we've got two more games and we could possibly go to the Big Ten championship. So we're just taking it one game at a time right now."
Nebraska could be scoreboard watching up until the final moments of the league's regular season.
A Michigan State loss is unlikely this weekend: The Spartans host Indiana (1-9, 0-6) for their final home contest of the year.
MSU finishes the year at Northwestern (5-5, 2-4) on Nov. 26. The kickoff time hasn't been announced yet, but if Nebraska's able to beat Michigan (8-2, 4-2) and Iowa (6-4, 3-3), the Huskers would likely face at least a full day of uncertainty.
"We've got to keep pushing, because who knows what could happen?" freshman running back Ameer Abdullah said. "Our hopes aren't over."
Either way — Big Ten title game berth or not — Nebraska's season will continue into the winter.
Actually, the silver lining to finishing 10-2 but missing a shot at the league crown would be a legitimate consideration for an at-large BCS bowl bid. The Huskers are ranked 16th in the latest BCS standings (second-highest among Big Ten teams).
No BCS bowl? Nebraska would likely land in Florida — in Orlando's Capital One Bowl, Tampa's Outback Bowl or Jacksonville's Gator Bowl. The Insight Bowl, in Tempe, Ariz., is also a possibility.
At this point, though, the Huskers aren't thinking much about the postseason. Their goal is a Big Ten title, and they're trying to do everything they can to stay in the race.
"Hopefully, (Saturday's win) gives us some momentum going forth into these next two weeks," junior running back Rex Burkhead said. "You never know what could happen. So we really want to have a great week of preparation for Michigan."
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