Heartbreaking defeat
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Nebraska put together an amazing comeback but couldn't stop a late Texas Tech drive that gave the Red Raiders a 34-31 victory Saturday before a Memorial Stadium crowd of 77,580 and a TBS national TV audience.
They were treated to quite a show, as Nebraska rallied from a 21-0 deficit, and the outcome was not determined until the final seconds for the third straight game.
The Huskers had a golden opportunity for their fifth straight win, when Le Kevin Smith intercepted a tipped pass deep in NU territory but fumbled as he was being tackled, and the Red Raiders had the football right back with 1:13 remaining.
On a fourth-and-2 play from the 10, Tech's Cody Hodges scrambled and finally hit Joel Filani in the end zone to put the Red Raiders up 34-31 with 12 seconds left.
Nebraska completed one pass but couldn't get in scoring position before the clock ran out, as No. 13 and 15 Tech improved to 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference and 5-0 overall. NU fell to 1-1 and 4-1 entering its first road game next Saturday at Baylor.
"This is a resilient football team, a resourceful football team," NU coach Bill Callahan said. "Going down to Waco is going to be a big challenge for this football team, but I'm confident they'll respond."
The Huskers did Saturday, after Texas Tech used three Hodges' touchdown passes — two to Filani — to take a 21-0 lead with 9:25 remaining in the first half. That started to bring back memories of last year's crushing 70-10 defeat in Lubbock.
But Nebraska responded with a 13-play, 80-yard drive, capped by freshman Cody Glenn's 5-yard touchdown run with 5:21 left in the half.
The Huskers benefited from the short field on their next possession, after a 20-yard punt return by Cortney Grixby and a personal foul on Tech set things up for NU to go 29 yards in six plays. Glenn scored from 1 yard out to make it 21-14 with 52 seconds left in the half.
Tech took advantage of NU turnovers to get a pair of field goals to go up 27-14 with 7:31 left in the third quarter.
"Our defense really stood up to a big challenge after taking a big shellacking last year," Callahan said.
The Huskers drove 68 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 15-yard scoring pass from Zac Taylor to Terrence Nunn, to cut the margin to 27-21 with 1:51 left in the third period and took the lead for the first time when Taylor hit Nunn on a 4-yard fade with 10:10 remaining. The latter score was set up by Bo Ruud's fumble recovery and 46-yard return to the Tech 14.
The Huskers had a chance to expand their one-point lead, when they took over after a 23-yard Grixby return to the Red Raider 40. But after two first downs, the drive stalled, and NU settled for Jordan Congdon's 27-yard field goal that made it 31-27 with 5:10 left.
That set the stage for the Tech drive that went 55 yards before Smith's interception. The NU defensive tackle rambled 14 yards, before he was hit by Tech's Bryan Keagans, and Danny Amendola recovered at the NU 19.
"He made a big play, and he was excited," Callahan said. "The first thought is to run with it."
Four plays later, the Red Raiders scored the winning touchdown.
After allowing 294 yards in the first half, Nebraska limited Tech to 118 in the second half. NU finished with 364 yards in total offense, including 229 through the air. The Huskers had five turnovers, compared to two for the Red Raiders.