Dan Erickson, NU wide receiver

How about some love for a receiver who never catches a ball? Those jokes about obvious running plays when No. 26 is in the lineup? Well, the guy with one catch on the season comes up big on the game-winning drive with a 16-yard reception. Great job.

— Brian Rosenthal

Maurice Purify, NU wide receiver

He called it “probably the worst game of my Nebraska career” because he dropped a couple passes. In the end, however, he clutched the big one to cap the game-winning drive. What a weapon in the red zone. Throw him a pass on a fade route, and he’s like a power forward jumping over a point guard for a rebound. Perfect.

— Steven M. Sipple 

Barry Turner, NU defensive lineman

Anything the Huskers did in the final two minutes would have been inconsequential had Turner not blocked Layne Neumann’s 42-yard field-goal attempt with 2:04 to play. If Neumann boots it through, the Huskers leave College Station dazed and confused instead of Big 12 North champions.

— Curt McKeever

Zac Taylor, NU quarterback

The records are nice — NU career passing yards (5,193) and single-season TD passes (22) — but it was Taylor’s leadership at crunch time that clinched the Big 12 North title for the Huskers.

— John Mabry