Watch Nebraska coach Bo Pelini's press conference following the 31-10 loss

LINCOLN — Texas Tech slammed the brakes on any momentum Nebraska seemed to be building Saturday by beating the Huskers 31-10 at Memorial Stadium.

The Red Raiders streaked to a 21-0 first-half lead and Nebraska never recovered before a crowd of 86,107.

The Huskers not only struggled offensively but defensively in the first half. The defense improved but the offense did not as NU slipped to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12, surrendering any hopes it had of becoming the North Division favorite.

Junior quarterback Steven Sheffield ignited Texas Tech (5-2, 2-1) by leading a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive to start the game. In his first career road start, Sheffield was 14 of 18 for 196 yards passing by halftime, when the Red Raiders led 24-3.

It was a surprising dent in the Husker defense, which had held its previous four opponents below 300 total yards.

The offense was the bigger problem, however, as it failed to generate any kind of momentum, gave up a touchdown and stopped itself often with a slew of penalties.

The Red Raiders' defensive touchdown came when Nebraska was trying to tie the game 7-7 with about five minutes left in the first quarter. Zac Lee threw a lateral pass that Niles Paul dropped and — as most of the NU offense watched — Texas Tech defensive end Daniel Howard picked up the football and returned it 82 yards for a 14-0 lead.

Texas Tech put together another time-consuming drive for its 21-0 lead, going 65 yards in 12 plays and 6:40. Sheffield scored on a 1-yard sneak with 6:56 remaining before halftime.

Nebraska threatened to get seven right back by marching down the field, but stalled inside the Red Raiders' 10 and settled for Alex Henery's 21-yard field goal. That immediately was negated with a 32-yard field goal by Matt Williams with three seconds left for the 24-3 halftime margin.

The Huskers then produced no points on their first four series of the second half, including the second when they inserted freshman Cody Green at quarterback. Green was hurt by a pair of dropped passes by NU receivers, including a tipped pass that went through the hands of Curenski Gilleylen with nobody behind him in the Texas Tech secondary.

Green returned in the fourth quarter and fired a 13-yard touchdown pass to Khiry Cooper with 8:40 left. It was the first career TD pass for Green and TD catch for Cooper.

But Texas Tech managed to squeeze the next five minutes off the clock and scored on Sheffield's 1-yard sneak. That made it 31-10 and punctuated the Red Raiders' fourth straight win over the Huskers.

Green took Nebraska back into the red zone in the waning minutes, but was intercepted by Franklin Mitchem with 2:03 to go.

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

Watch Ndamukong Suh at the postgame press conference