SAN ANTONIO ? Bo Pelini tried something a little different in his one-game audition to become Nebraska’s next head coach.

Jammal Lord threw for a career-best 160 yards and ran for 79 more Monday night, leading the Cornhuskers to a 17-3 win over Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl.

Running back Cory Ross also had a career night by rushing for 138 yards and two touchdowns for normally run-oriented Nebraska, which won its 10th game to cap a season in which coach Frank Solich was fired after finishing the regular season with a 9-3 record.

“I think we showed the world what Nebraska football is all about,” Pelini said. “I couldn’t be prouder of a group of men.”

The win was the Cornhuskers’ second in the Alamo Bowl in four years. They rolled over Northwestern, 66-17, in 2000.

While Nebraska’s offense piled up 389 total yards, its defense limited the Spartans’ potent passing attack to 156 yards to go with 18 yards on the ground.

Quarterback Jeff Smoker was sacked five times, twice on Michigan State’s first possession, and he threw three interceptions.

Pelini’s only obvious misstep of the night came in the fourth quarter, when the interim head coach was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing too strenuously that Michigan State had fumbled away the ball in Cornhusker territory.

Nebraska got the turnover four plays later when Pat Ricketts intercepted a pass from Smoker intended for Aaron Alexander at the Cornhuskers 32 with 5:24 remaining.

Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker (9) tries to escape Nebraska's Adam Hassebroek, right, and Jermaine Leslie as Michigan State's Paul Harker tries to protect. The Huskers beat MSU, 17-3, in Monday's Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

The penalty didn’t dull the enthusiasm for Pelini among some Nebraska fans, who chanted “We want Bo!” after the game. Pelini, who was the team’s defensive coordinator before Solich became the first Nebraska head coach since 1961 to be fired, and quarterbacks coach Turner Gill are the only known candidates for the head-coaching job.

Lord started throwing in the second quarter, completing seven passes for 140 yards. He hit wide receiver Isaiah Fluellen with a 58-yard strike to the Michigan State 6, and Ross ran it in two plays later for his first touchdown.

Lord’s previous best passing day was 151 yards in a win over Division 1-AA McNeese State in October 2002.

Late in the first half, Lord faked a handoff inside at his own 20 and took off around the right end. He outraced the linebackers and then the secondary for a 66-yard gain to the Michigan State 14. Ross then carried it in from the 7 to give Nebraska a 17-3 lead at the break.

Michigan State made no secret it would throw the ball, though the Spartans might have had second thoughts after their first series.

Defensive end Trevor Johnson dropped Smoker for an 8-yard loss on the first play from scrimmage, and then Johnson sacked him again on third down for another 8-yard loss.

Starting at their own 42, the Huskers did what they were expected to do — methodically pound the ball on the ground. Ross carried seven times for 37 yards on the drive, which ended with a 29-yard field goal by David Dyches.

Smoker had better success in the Spartans’ second possession, completing five of his six passes to get Dave Rayner into position for a 46-yard field goal to tie the game with 3:53 left in the first quarter.