IOWA CITY, Iowa — Winning five consecutive games mostly without him didn’t mean Nebraska doesn’t need Rex Burkhead.

On a cold and blustery afternoon, with a spot in the Big Ten title game on the line, Burkhead proved why he is so valuable to the Cornhuskers.

Burkhead scored the go ahead touchdown in his return from a knee injury and No. 14 Nebraska beat Iowa 13-7 on Friday to claim the Legends Division’s berth in the championship game.

The Huskers (10-2, 7-1) will face off against Wisconsin next Saturday in Indianapolis after winning six in a row since a loss at Ohio State.

It’ll be a rematch of Nebraska’s 30-27 home victory over the Badgers in late September.

“I remember after Ohio State, I said what we needed to do and you all looked at me like I was a crazy man,” Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini said. “I probably thought I was a crazy man that night. I believe in this team. Honestly, I’m proud of those kids in that locker room.”

Burkhead had to be at the top of Pelini’s list.

Burkhead, making his first appearance since aggravating a sprained left knee Oct. 20 against Northwestern, broke through with a 3-yard touchdown run to make it 13-7 late in the third quarter. He rushed for 69 yards, all in the second half.

Alonzo Whaley’s interception with 2:11 left sealed the victory.

The Huskers defense held the Hawkeyes (4-8, 2-6) scoreless in the final three quarters in windy conditions.

Mark Weisman had 91 yards rushing for Iowa, which finished the season on a six-game losing streak. The Hawkeyes will miss out on a bowl game for just the second time since 2000.

“Nobody’s happy about where we’re at,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We fully realize we have a lot of work to do right now.”

BIG EAST

Nassib leads Syracuse

PHILADELPHIA - Ryan Nassib threw for 215 yards and a touchdown, and Adonis Aimeen-Moore rushed for two scores to lead Syracuse to a 38-20 victory over Temple on Friday in the Orange’s last Big East game.

The Orange (7-5, 5-2) have won five of six games to finish the season, and now await their bowl destination. Syracuse is moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.

Temple took a 20-17 lead midway through the third quarter on quarterback Clinton Granger’s 10-yard run that capped a four-play, 62-yard drive.

But the Orange took over from there.

Syracuse moved down the field on its ensuing possession, going 75 yards on 12 plays over 4:21 and ending its drive with Aimeen-Moore’s 1-yard run to take a 24-20 lead with 4:37 left in the quarter.

Prince-Tyson Gulley scored on a 3-yard run early in the fourth quarter, ending an 11-play, 75-yard drive that took 4:04 and gave the Orange a 31-20 advantage.

Syracuse clinched it on Keon Lyn’s 31-yard interception return of a Granger pass with 2:37 left. It was the first of two interceptions for Lyn.

Temple’s Montel Harris, who ran for 351 yards and seven touchdowns in last Saturday’s record-setting, 63-32 victory over Army, ran for 106 yards on 21 carries for the Owls (4-7, 2-5), who ended their first season back in the Big East by losing five of six.

In another Big East Conference game, Brendon Kay threw for a touchdown and ran for another, getting Cincinnati’s offense moving after its worst showing of the season, and the Bearcats (8-3, 4-2) pulled away to a 27-10 victory over visiting South Florida (3-8, 1-5). Kay was 17 of 27 for 178 yards. He also ran seven times for 48 yards. South Florida struggled behind redshirt freshman Matt Floyd, who completed 21 of 39 passes for 176 yards.

CONFERENCE USA Marshall edged

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Shane Carden’s 1-yard touchdown run in the second overtime Friday lifted East Carolina over Marshall 65-59 and kept the Pirates’ Conference USA title hopes alive.

The Pirates (8-4, 7-1) will advance to play Tulsa for the league championship if Alabama-Birmingham beats Central Florida today.

Carden scored after three consecutive runs by Vintavious Cooper took the ball down to the Marshall 1.

East Carolina had stopped a Marshall possession earlier in the overtime when Chrishon Rose forced a fumble at the 11 by Essray Taliaferro and Derrell Johnson recovered it.

A 25-yard touchdown pass from Carden to Andrew Bodenheimer gave East Carolina a lead on the first play of overtime, but the Thundering Herd (5-7, 4-4) answered with a 4-yard Blake Frohnapfel scoring pass to Antavious Wilson after Taliaferro converted a fourth-and-1 with a 4-yard run.

Sports, Pages 27 on 11/24/2012