By DALE ROBERTSON

LINCOLN, Neb. -- We knew Nebraska had a good defense, a very, very good defense. Going in, it ranked in the top eight nationally in almost every mayhem-measuring category that matters.

But this good? Hmm. No way, not this good.

No defense can possibly be as good as the Cornhuskers' so-called "Blackshirts" -- led, oddly enough, by two guys named Brown -- showed themselves to be Saturday. So we must indict Texas A&M's offense as an unwitting co-conspirator in what became one of the Aggies' most feeble performances in memory.

The Huskers pitched a 37-0 shutout because kicker Terence Kitchens' field-goal trajectories tend to be as flat as these Great Plains upon which they were attempted. But the two latest Kitchen sinkers -- from 28 and 21 yards away -- that got batted back into his face were just part of a grocery list of A&M gaffes on an idyllic fall afternoon seemingly made for gobs of scoring.

Yikes, if you can't throw, or run, the ball under such perfect conditions ...

"I had a lot of their respect for their defense," said a glum R.C. Slocum, "but we should have performed better than that. I'm very disappointed."

Slocum was asked how much of the carnage was the result the black-hearted intensity of the Blackshirts and how much could be pinned on his erring Aggies.

"I don't know," he said. "I really don't."

Suffice it to say that, as of Saturday night, R.C. was short for Real Concerned.

The Huskers, 8-1 and looking more like the old Tom Osborne Huskers of late, have surrendered only 64 meaningful points in nine games -- another 35 have been allowed in fourth-quarter garbage time -- so there was nothing inherently flukish about keeping the Aggies at bay. But the magnitude of A&M's malaise, both on the ground (two net yards for the day) and in the air (43 until the score reached 23-0), was staggering.

"Horrible ... very inept," Slocum called the offense, which is under the supervision of Steve Kragthorpe, in his second season as the coordinator. Slocum and Kragthorpe will be having some intense conversations in the days to come. As in the 51-6 Oklahoma debacle, the Aggies showed no inclination to make adjustments to a clearly faltering plan.

The swarming, blitzing Huskers harassed Randy McCown into four interceptions and sacked him eight times. His 11-for-30 effort for 116 yards -- with a long gain of 17 -- became a low point in what has been a hot-cold season for the senior quarterback. Until Saturday, however, he had at least thrown only six picks.

Yet the Browns, rover Mike and cornerback Ralph, combined for three themselves. The former had two picks and two forced fumbles by his lonesome and tossed in a sack for good measure.

"They just kept coming," McCown said. "They filled every lane. I didn't have a lot of time."

One play after the opening kickoff, the Aggies owned a first-and-10 at the Nebraska 11 after Harold Robertson's recovery of a Bobby Newcombe fumble. But, when A&M's four plays netted a loss of one yard and the first blocked field goal ensued, you suspected it could become a long, futile afternoon.

Had the Aggies known something? After they won the coin toss, they opted to try their luck on defense instead.

The defense hung in as long as it could before fatigue, in combination with absolutely brutal field position, fractured its resolve. The Aggies' collective back was almost always against the wall, although somehow the deficit remained a manageable 9-0 through the middle of the third quarter.

At that point, A&M had possessed the football on 11 occasions, six of which produced one or fewer yards of forward progress. Forty-two snaps accounted for 41 net yards with three turnovers.

No small wonder the D rapidly devolved. In the end, the Aggies' total of five giveaways would directly contribute to 20 Huskers points. Nebraska would start six possessions inside A&M territory, five because of the turnovers.

"Our defense played well in the first half," Slocum said. "But their offense is too good to keep giving them the (field position) they had."

The ignoble effort, resulting in A&M's first bagel since 1988, cost the Aggies any chance of repeating as Big 12 Conference champions or participating in a bowl game anybody might be proud to attend. And to think the season began -- what, about six years ago? -- with national-title aspirations.

With Missouri on the road next weekend and Texas remaining, A&M could feasibly finish 6-5, and 3-5 in the conference. But, whatever happens the rest of the way, no matter how much resilience the Aggies may reveal, the record will always show they let Oklahoma and Nebraska whip them by a combined 88-6 margin.

"It's not exactly what we expected," guard Chris Valletta admitted. "This isn't the kind of year we thought we were going to have. It hurts your pride not to put any points on the board. But as a team we have a lot of pride and character. We won't let it break us."

Brave talk from a thoroughly beaten Aggie. Like his comrades, Valletta had came north to the heartland hoping to turn around a season already headed south. Instead, they embarrassed themselves in front of 77,705 of the nicest, most polite football fans you'll ever hope to see.

As they always do, the Corn People stood and clapped politely for the vanquished visitors. Nary a derisive hoot or chuckle was heard. In that respect at least, the Aggies might have fared better here than they would have back home.