Just another routine game at Memorial Stadium. Yep, another lazy and uneventful Saturday afternoon.

Yeah, right. For the third straight game, the Nebraska football team kept fans on the edge of their seats until the fateful final seconds. Only this time there was no victory for Big Red to celebrate.

Texas Tech quarterback Cody Hodges bought time for himself in the pocket before delivering a 10-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Joel Filani with 12 seconds remaining, sending the Red Raiders to a 34-31 triumph before a crowd of 77,580.

Filani’s third touchdown catch of the day capped a wild final few minutes and let Tech escape town with a 5-0 record, including 2-0 in the Big 12.

Nebraska (4-1, 1-1) took solace in rallying from a 21-0 deficit, grabbing a 28-27 lead – the Huskers’ first of the day – on Terrence Nunn’s 4-yard touchdown catch with 10 minutes remaining and extending the margin on Jordan Congdon’s 27-yard field goal five minutes later.

“It makes our coaching staff and everyone in the program proud,” Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said of his team’s comeback. “We just didn’t close it out.”

The Huskers, if for only a few seconds, had the win in hand. It slipped through the cracks when a fumble slipped from the hands of – get this – NU defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith.

With 1:13 remaining and Nebraska leading 31-27, Smith intercepted a pass that was tipped by middle linebacker Corey McKeon. Smith, however, tried to run with the ball and was hit by Bryan Kegans. Smith’s fumble was recovered by Tech’s Danny Amendola at NU’s 18-yard line.

Smith could have sealed a Nebraska win by simply falling to the ground, as Tech was out of timeouts.

“He’s excitable. He makes a big play,” Callahan said. “They’re just kids. What can you say?”

Hodges, a fifth-year senior in his first season as starter, needed four plays to find the end zone. On third-and-2 at the 10, he rolled to his right and all of his receivers were covered. On fourth-and-2, Hodges remained calm as the pocket closed around him and found Filani running a crossing pattern just ahead of Nebraska safety Blake Tiedtke.

“I think it is pretty big,” Tech coach Mike Leach said of the win. “Moses was in high school the last time these guys lost a homecoming game.”

Indeed, Nebraska had captured 36 straight Homecoming games. Although the Huskers lost this one, they took immense pride in their response to adversity. The Red Raiders had 188 yards in the first quarter but only 224 thereafter.

Nebraska typically sticks with a 4-3 defensive alignment. But the Huskers mixed in some 3-4 and began blitzing more effectively.

“We gathered ourselves,” Nebraska linebacker Bo Ruud said. “After the first quarter, the momentum was ours the rest of the game.”

Tech’s 412 total yards were 173 fewer than its nation-leading average.

Smith’s late fumble was perhaps fitting in that Nebraska was slowed all day by turnovers. The Huskers lost three fumbles, and quarterback Zac Taylor threw two interceptions. Taylor’s fumble with 12 minutes left in the game seemed to doom NU.

Then Nebraska came up with a key turnover of its own. Defensive end Jay Moore, who had a second straight big game, forced Hodges to fumble, and Ruud picked up the bounding pigskin and rambled 46 yards to Tech’s 14.

On third-and-goal at the 4, Taylor and Terrence Nunn connected for a touchdown on a fade route, giving Nebraska its first lead at 28-27 with 10 minutes left.

Congdon’s field goal five minutes later put Tech in a difficult position.

The Red Raiders responded admirably. Hodges finished 34-for-45 for 368 yards and four touchdowns, while Taylor was 21-for-35 for 229 yards and two touchdowns. The Huskers pounded out 135 rushing yards.

Nebraska was coming off a 27-20 double-overtime win against Iowa State, which followed a 7-6 triumph over Pitt.

“This is a resilient football team, a resourceful team,” Callahan said. “They put it all out there today. I couldn’t be prouder.”