Texas Tech coach Mike Leach and his defensive coordinator put a historical perspective on the Red Raiders’ 34-31 victory against Nebraska on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.  “I’ve been here before and I’ve never been successful and I’ve never given up less than 70 points,” Lyle Setencich said. “So I have a great deal of respect and a great deal of fear coming to Lincoln and playing Nebraska.

“We told the defense that we’ll both have baseball bats. Whoever hits the guy last and makes the offense turn the ball over will win the game. You must get turnovers.”

Leach went back a bit further in history.

“Moses was in high school the last time these guys lost a homecoming game. The crowd here, the stadium and the tradition. There’s ghosts circling around. You have to fight through that,” he said.

The closing minutes of the game were something of a blur for Leach. The Red Raiders’ coach couldn’t recall the interception-fumble play with just more than a minute left in the game that gave Texas Tech a reprieve.

Eventually, after reporters explained the play they were asking about, Leach said, “I thought that was a good deal.”

On first down from the Nebraska 10-yard line, Tech quarterback Cody Hodges threw over the middle. The ball was tipped in the air and Husker lineman Le Kevin Smith grabbed the ball and took off. Bryan Kegans knocked the ball out of Smith’s hands and Danny Amendola pounced on it for the Red Raiders.

Four plays later, Hodges found Joel Filani for a 10-yard touchdown and the win.

Leach wasn’t the only one slightly confused about the rapid change of possessions.

“I threw it and if the ball doesn’t get tipped, from my angle, it looked like (Jarrett) Hicks was going to score,” Hodges said.

Filani said the play developed agonizingly slow.

“That was a crazy play. It seemed like the ball was in the air for 10 seconds,” he said.

Hodges said he thought guard Manny Ramirez knocked the ball out of Smith’s hands.

But Ramirez set the record straight.

“Bryan Kegans was the one who knocked the ball out,” he said. “I saw the ball up in the air and thought, ‘No, this can’t be happening.’ I don’t know what to say. It was a miracle,” said Ramirez. “I personally think Brian Kegans won the game for us.

“After that, we had to get it in. It was a must because it was a second opportunity and we had to take advantage.”

Hodges threw for 368 yards, slightly more than his average, and Filani was his favorite target, pulling in 11 catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns. So it was no surprise Filani caught the game winner. But it wasn’t exactly planned that way.

“We run that play every day in practice. I started out on the back side with Hicks, but he was covered,” Hodges said. “By that time, it was too late to get back to the other side. I bought a little time scrambling.

“I just saw Joel running his route. I threw it up, got hit and I was just waiting for the crowd’s reaction to see what happened.”

Leach said that’s why he chose a play like that for the last-chance opportunity.

“It gave us several options to react to a variety of things,” he said. “It wasn’t like ‘We’re going to get it to this one guy, or else.’ We had several opportunities to score on the play.”

The Red Raiders started the game looking as if they wanted a repeat of last year’s 70-10 victory. Tech scored on three of their first four possessions for a 21-0 lead. Nebraska cut the deficit to 21-14 with two scores in the final 5 1/2 minutes of the second quarter.

“We started real well. Then Nebraska tried very hard to wreck our rhythm and they took some risks to do it and ultimately, it paid off for them,” Leach said. “On one hand, we have a pile of missed opportunities that could fill this room where we should have scored points and kept them from scoring points.

"Obviously, they can say the same thing. Both sides are correct.”

Twice in the third quarter, the Red Raider defense provided opportunities. Chris Hudler recovered a fumble at the Husker 20-yard line, but Tech had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Alex Trlica. Then, Sylvester Brinkley intercepted a Zac Taylor pass and returned it 20 yards to the NU 11. But again, Trlica was called on to kick a field goal, this time for 26 yards. 

“I thought about going for it on fourth down every time. You do it a couple times in a row and you get just one, you’ve got an extra point out there,” Leach said. “The offense was spotty. The defense played good. I’d like to combine both sides of the ball. I just don’t want to hit those dry spells.”

Reach Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com.