October 21, 2001 TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT. Huskers hold off pesky Texas Tech 41-31, NU-OU showdown is next. Was it just me, or were there times you could have sworn Nebraska was playing Oklahoma Saturday night rather than Texas Tech? Wait. That’s next week. An impressive, determined Red Raider performance fell short in Lincoln as the Big Red of Nebraska improved to (8-0, 4-0) with a 41-31 thriller over Texas Tech. The Raiders drop to (3-3, 1-3). Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch went to the air more often than he usually does, passing for 3 touchdowns and running for another. He also added 105 yards rushing. Dahrran Diedrick rushed 20 times for 157 yards. It was the 19th consecutive home win for the Huskers, now the nation’s longest home-winning streak, after former record-holder Oregon lost to Stanford on Saturday. Texas Tech went with a frenzied offensive attack, passing and moving well against the Husker blackshirts. The Raiders racked up 373 passing yards to Nebraska’s 196 yards in the air. On the ground, the Huskers rushed for 335 yards to give them 531 total yards for the game. The Husker defense held Tech to just 67 yards rushing. But it was anything but easy. The Raiders scored first, the game was tied 28-28 at halftime and the Huskers only led by a touchdown (38-31) half way through the 4th quarter. It wasn’t until the Huskers tacked on a late field goal that the sold-out crowd at Memorial Stadium could breathe easy. At least until next week. Could it be the Huskers were looking ahead to the big showdown with Oklahoma next week? Or was it simply another example of an underrated team playing at peak level against the mighty Cornhuskers? One of the problems with being such a successful college football team is that everyone guns for you every week. Texas Tech almost pulled the trigger. But the Huskers prevailed. They are undefeated and will face undefeated and second-ranked Oklahoma, a 38-17 winner over Baylor on Saturday, this Saturday in Lincoln. Boomer Sooner, buh bye! More from ESPN More from AP Husker stats More Husker News Post messages on your memories of the Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry. Click here.