Texas and Big 12 Football Capsules: Texas QB McCoy finding multiple targets

Along with rolling up wins for No. 4 TCU, the junior quarterback also rescues dogs in distress. This has simply been that type of charmed season for Dalton and the Horned Frogs.

TCU is 11-0 for the first time since 1938 after a 45-10 win over Wyoming on Saturday that gave the Frogs at least a share of the Mountain West Conference title and kept them in the hunt for a BCS bowl.

TCU wraps up the regular season next weekend against New Mexico, which edged Colorado State on Saturday for its first win of the season. Provided the Frogs beat the Lobos, they can sit back and wait to see if their work was enough.

"(We) see what's ahead of us," said Dalton, whose team remained at No. 4 in The Associated Press poll released Sunday. "If we win next week, we get a shot at a big bowl. It's motivation for us. We're trying to play our best each week. Hopefully, we'll impress someone."

Dalton certainly impressed a runner out for a jog with her dog. While driving down the road a few months back, a woman frantically waved him over after her dog had fallen ill.

Dalton then did what he does best — engineered a crucial drive.

"She said, 'My dog has passed out and isn't moving, please take me to my car,'" Dalton recalled. "I told her, 'Put your dog in my car and I can take you.' I gave them some water and got the dog in the car."

Just like he's been doing all season, Dalton came through under pressure.

The red-haired signal caller out of Katy, Texas, has the Frogs marching to his steady beat. Over the last six games, he's thrown 12 touchdown passes and just two picks.

The calmly confident Dalton also is approaching legendary company. With 28 career wins, he's one shy of matching the school record that Slingin' Sammy Baugh set from 1934-36.

"It's pretty cool to be considered with a guy like that," said Dalton, who became the starter as a redshirt freshman in 2007.

For all the wins, though, he's almost an afterthought in the Heisman Trophy race. It's a notion that TCU coach Gary Patterson understands quite well since his team is in the same boat.

"It's because it started too late. It's like being ranked. If you want a chance to be in the top 10, you have to start higher and Andy Dalton didn't start very high," Patterson said. "I think he will be a guy people will pay attention to. All he's ever done is win."

All those wins have cost Dalton some hair, though. He told his teammates over the summer that if the Frogs won 10 straight, he'd shave his locks into a faux Mohawk.

Keeping his word, Dalton went to receiver Jeremy Kerley's barber to get his tresses trimmed late last week, allowing the stylist to have free reign over Dalton's hair. The next thing Dalton knew, he had "TCU" carved into the side of his head.

"I guess I lost a bet," Dalton said, "but it was a good bet to lose."

Now, he's hoping the Frogs can earn a crack at one of the big boys on the block in a big-money bowl. But that's out of his control.

"It's all speculation who will go and then who should go. Each team thinks they should have the shot," Dalton said. "We're trying to play the best we can each week and hopefully we're impressing some people as we do it."

Dalton was consistent through the air against Wyoming, finishing 10-of-19 for 168 yards and a 45-yard TD strike to Kerley. He also threw an interception on a tipped pass.

Even more, he displayed another part of his game — his running ability. When the Cowboys left the middle of the field open, Dalton took off through the line and finished with a season-high 88 yards rushing.

"It seemed to work for us," Dalton casually said.

These days, pretty much everything is working for a team that boasts a high-powered offense to match their dominating defense. The Frogs gained more than 500 yards of offense for the fourth straight week, with the running game doing most of the damage against Wyoming. Matthew Tucker and Joseph Turner each scored two touchdowns and combined for 200 yards on the ground.

"I'm glad to see everything's clicking," Dalton said. "For these seniors, for this program, for this school, it's been a lot of fun this whole year."

-- Pat Graham

Big 12

Winning North is just a start for Nebraska coach

LINCOLN, Neb. — Winning the Big 12 North title didn't prompt any over-the-top celebrations at Nebraska this time.

Sure, players poured the Gatorade bucket over coach Bo Pelini on Saturday night as the clock ran out on a 17-3 victory over Kansas State that sends the Cornhuskers to the conference championship game against third-ranked Texas on Dec. 5.

But in Pelini's world, a division title is only one step in his rebuilding project.

"There's a lot more out there for us," Pelini said. "There's a lot better football out there to be played. That's a good thing. I think that our kids are still hungry. On to the next challenge."

Nebraska (8-3, 5-2) finishes the regular season Friday at Colorado (3-8, 2-5). Then the Cornhuskers need to upset the Longhorns at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, to win their first Big 12 title since 1999 and the BCS bowl bid that goes with it.

In 2006, as time ran out on Nebraska's Big 12 North-clinching victory over Texas A&M, fireworks lit the sky over Memorial Stadium as if winning the division were a monumental accomplishment.

The hoopla was a reflection of how far Nebraska's program had slipped. After all, Nebraska fans once measured success in conference championships, not division titles. Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne and Frank Solich won championships. Bill Callahan did not, though he was rewarded for a 2006 division title with a new contract, only to be fired after the 2007 season.

Pelini told his players after Saturday's game that they had not reached their ceiling.

Win the conference, and the back slapping can begin.

"We've grown tremendously, but there is still a lot of work," nose tackle Ndamukong Suh said. "His message when he first got here is embraced by everybody. We're not to what he expects from us, but I think we are on a good path."

The Huskers head to Boulder, Colo., on a four-game win streak. Their offense isn't great, but it hasn't had to be because the defense ranks among the best in the nation.

For the second year in a row, the Huskers are playing their best late in the season. The Huskers have won a combined seven of eight games after Nov. 1 in 2008 and '09. The defense has allowed opponents 17 or fewer points in each of the last five games.

Coming into the season, no one would have penciled in a Nebraska win over an Oklahoma team that started the season ranked No. 3. But the Huskers beat the Sooners 10-3, taking some of the sting out of back-to-back stunning home losses to Texas Tech and Iowa State.

"It's been a little weird," tight end Mike McNeill said. "I wouldn't have thought some of the games would have played out the way they did, but we still won the North and that's the important part.

"It's just guys being resilient. It's kind of what you saw last year. We had our ups and downs last year. You just have to keep fighting and keep pushing through and things will turn out the way you want them to."

The last thing the Huskers want is to have their momentum stopped at Colorado. The Buffaloes had a losing record when they came to Lincoln last year, and they led Nebraska in the final two minutes before Alex Henery kicked a 57-yard field goal and Suh ran back an interception for a touchdown for a 40-31 victory.

Colorado led then-No. 12 Oklahoma State by 11 points last week before losing 31-28.

"You can't overlook Colorado. They are a good team who plays hard," center Jacob Hickman said. "We have to go into that next week, and we have the championship the week after. We all have high expectations, and we expect to work hard and go out there to do everything we can to win the game."

-- Eric Olson

Mangino heads into what could be last week with KU

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Heading into what could be his final week as head coach at Kansas, Mark Mangino might still position the Jayhawks for a school-record third straight bowl game.