BOULDER, Colorado (Ticker) -- If Frank Solich's job is in jeopardy, he can at least breath a little easier.
Jammal Lord threw for one touchdown and rushed for another and T.J. Hollowell and Pat Ricketts had key interceptions in the fourth quarter as the 23rd-ranked Cornhuskers defeated Colorado, 31-22.
Nebraska (9-3, 5-3 Big 12 North) went ahead for good on a 19-yard field goal by David Dyches midway through the fourth quarter and avoided thee straight losses to Colorado for the first time since 1956-58.
Nebraska's three losses have been by lopsided scores, and a Lincoln newspaper reported last weekend that athletic director Steve Pederson wants Solich to step down at the end of the regular season. The university said it has made no decision on the future of Solich, who is just 16-12 in his last 28 games, a streak that began with a 62-36 loss to Colorado in the Cornhuskers' last visit to Boulder in 2001.
"This program did not deserve what happened to it in the past week," Solich said. "A lot of hectic stuff has been going on and I feel that I have controlled the situation and myself pretty well. ... It is difficult to deal with, but we have to act like business as usual."
Colorado (5-7, 3-5) missed a pair of two-point conversions and saw its chances of earning a bowl berth end with Friday's loss.
"We would have been lucky to get to a bowl game," Colorado coach Gary Barnett said. "I just thought we had so much momentum, and had such a positive thing going in our locker room. I would have liked to finish that way."
Lord kept alive a fourth-quarter drive with a quarterback sneak on fourth down near midfield, and Dyches later followed with a field goal that made it 24-22. An interception by Hollowell led to a one-yard touchdown run by Judd Davies that capped the scoring.
Ricketts sealed the victory when he intercepted Joel Klatt in the end zone with two minutes left. Klatt threw touchdown passes of 33 and six yards to D.J. Hackett in the first half.
Klatt threw for 269 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown pass to Derek McCoy in the third quarter to give the Buffaloes a 22-21 lead, but his conversion pass failed.
"It didn't end up making a difference, but it would have put us in a position to tie the game," Barnett said of the missed onversions.
Nebraska opened a 21-10 lead in the second quarter on touchdown runs of five yards by Lord and two yards by Cory Ross, who gained 103 yards on 22 carries. The Cornhuskers opened the scoring on a 58-yard touchdown pass from Lord to Matt Herian in the first quarter.
