By TERRY BLOUNT
Houston Chronicle

LINCOLN, Neb. -- How bad was it?

With 9 minutes, 23 seconds remaining in the first quarter Saturday, any tiny bit of doubt about the outcome had been erased.

Top-ranked Nebraska, en route to an easy 59-0 victory, was three touchdowns ahead of Baylor before six minutes were gone in the game and well on the way to a 38-0 first-quarter lead.

By halftime, the betting line of 49 points had been eclipsed, with the Cornhuskers leading 52-0 before 77,959 at Memorial Stadium.

"It was beyond shocking, it was devastating," Baylor cornerback Gary Baxter said. "It was sickening. They flat kicked our tails."

The Bears (2-5, 0-4 Big 12) have not scored in three consecutive games -- a span of 192 minutes. It is the first time Baylor has gone three games without any points since 1946, but the Bears were shut out in four consecutive games in 1903, 1911 and 1913.

Of course, teams were not scoring as much in those days. But Baylor didn't come close to scoring against the Cornhuskers, never getting past the Nebraska 37.

The combined score of the past three games for Baylor is 111-0. The Bears have lost by a combined score of 121-0 in the last three games at Nebraska.

"The bottom line is this: I take responsibility," Bears coach Kevin Steele said. "Don't put this on those guys in the locker room. We are going to get this turned around. You have to have the right kind of people, and we have that. They're fighting."

But Nebraska (7-0, 4-0) clearly did not want to run up the score and called off the fight before halftime. The Cornhuskers, who scored on their first nine possessions, used 115 players in the game, and few starters saw any action in the second half.

"We were able to rest some people, and that's good because we have a demanding stretch coming up," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said. "We had nothing but great field position in the first half and we were executing well, so good things were going to happen."

The game amounted to nothing more than a scrimmage for the Cornhuskers, who face a much tougher opponent next week in undefeated and third-ranked Oklahoma. Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch, a Heisman Trophy candidate, was through for the day after the first quarter. No sense risking an injury with the Sooners up next.

Little went right for the Bears. For example, with Nebraska ahead 31-0, the Cornhuskers went for it on fourth-and-13 at the Baylor 36. Correll Buckhalter scored on a option pitch.

The Cornhuskers only had to punt twice, but one of those punts was dropped by Baylor's Bobby Hart and recovered by Nebraska's Willie Amos at the Baylor 38 in the third quarter.

It was that kind of day for the Bears.

"It's frustrating, but you can't get down," said Baylor tailback Darrell Bush, who rushed for only 17 yards on 12 carries. "We have to keep plugging away and come together as a team."

The Huskers started every drive in Baylor territory in the opening period. In the first 5 1/2 minutes, the Bears suffered a blocked punt for a TD and a fumble off a sack that set up another score.

After the first 15 minutes, both teams had run 20 plays: Nebraska had 189 yards and Baylor one. The Bears finished with 84 total yards and five yards rushing. Nebraska had 508 total yards.

The Cornhuskers scored before the offense ever took the field when Keyuo Craver, a junior from Harleton, blocked a punt by Adam Stiles at the Baylor five and recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown with less than two minutes gone in the game.

Nebraska made it 14-0 after only two offensive plays with I-back Dan Alexander (104 yards on 14 carries) scoring on a 15-yard run off an option pitch with 11:24 remaining in the first quarter.

Baylor freshman quarterback Kerry Dixon fumbled when sacked by Vanden Bosch, and the ball was recovered by Jeremy Slechta at the Baylor 15. That set up a two-yard TD run by Alexander to make it 21-0 with only 5:37 gone off the clock.

A 33-yard field goal by Josh Brown gave Nebraska a 24-0 lead with 5:56 left in the opening quarter, and Crouch added a 14-yard scoring run with 3:51 remaining in the quarter to give the Cornhuskers a 31-0 advantage.

Jammal Lord, a redshirt freshman who replaced Crouch in the second quarter, led the Cornhuskers to the end zone in his first series. Lord scored on a two-yard run to make it 45-0 with 6:55 left in the first half.

Nebraska cracked the 50-point mark with 2:04 to go in the second quarter when Buckhalter scored on a seven-yard run, making it 52-0 after Brown's seventh extra-point kick of the first half.

The Cornhuskers added to their total when third-team I-back Dahrran Diedrick scored on a 23-yard run in the third quarter for the only score of the second half.

"They aren't Superman," Baxter said. "They put on their pants the same way we do, but they've been running that offense for decades and they execute to perfection. That's the reason they're No. 1 in the nation."