was beaten by Colorado 62–36 in the last regular season game. Despite that loss and failing to qualify for the Big 12 championship game, the Huskers still made it into the national championship game (ahead of #3 Colorado and #2 Oregon) in the Rose Bowl against Miami. Nebraska was beaten 37–14. Solich did win at least nine games in five of those six seasons, and finished among the top 10 teams in the nation three times. Solich compiled a 58–19 record (.753) at Nebraska. Solich's 1999 Huskers defeated the Texas Longhorns for the Big 12 championship. Solich was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001, and was one of seven finalists for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2001. For the first five years as head coach, Solich served as his own offensive coordinator, as Osborne had for most of his tenure. His offenses centered on the option. He also utilized such plays as the Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass which became a highlight of Eric Crouch's Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2001. The Huskers slumped to 7–7 in 2002, a year in which they fell out of the rankings for the first time since 1981; their 348 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll is still the longest in college football history. He gave up offensive play-calling duties to newly hired offensive coordinator Barney Cotton and brought in Bo Pelini, the linebackers coach for the Green Bay Packers, as defensive coordinator. 2003 began with Nebraska starting out 5–0, but suffered three key losses later in the year: 41–24 to Missouri, 31–7 to Texas and 38–9 to Kansas State. After winning the final game of the regular season, Solich was fired by new athletic director Steve Pederson. Solich's 58 wins during his first six seasons as Nebraska's head coach exceeded those of his predecessors, Bob Devaney (53 wins) and Osborne (55 wins), both of whom are in the College Football Hall of Fame. Ohio Solich took the 2004 season off, the first time he'd been away from the game in 39 years. In 2005, Solich was hired at Ohio University in Athens, and his impact on the football program was immediate. He arrived when renovation plans for the Ohio football facilities, which had begun eight years earlier (prior to 2004, the program was furnished with new coaches office, practice fields, a new 10,000 square-foot strength and conditioning