LINCOLN — Ted Gilmore needed only one word and a bit of head shaking to describe his group's problems Saturday.

“Inconsistent,” the NU wide receivers coach said. “We didn't do it. Top to bottom, across the board, it was inconsistent.”

NU's top two receivers on the day were a guy outside the top five in catches this season (Chris Brooks) and a running back who hadn't caught a pass all season (Marcus Mendoza).

The top Husker receiver entering the game — junior Niles Paul — caught just one pass. He also dropped a lateral that Texas Tech defensive lineman Daniel Howard scooped up and carried 82 yards for a first-quarter touchdown.

One of the lone bright spots in that group was redshirt freshman Khiry Cooper. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Cooper scored the Huskers' lone touchdown, the first of his NU career. His 13-yard score gave Nebraska some semblance of life late in the fourth quarter.

“Each guy has their moments, and each guy has their (bad) days as well,” Cooper said. “I think it's just a growing process.”

Cooper welcomes the competition at the position, saying it “creates an atmosphere where you want to do more and you want to get that edge.”

Gilmore didn't promise changes but wouldn't rule out those possibilities, either.

Paul still certain

Paul hadn't seen the film, but as he recounted the game-changing fumble after Saturday's loss, he was still certain that the play should have been called dead.

Paul said he ran a bubble screen on second down, a play that requires him to position himself past the quarterback. He dropped the toss from Zac Lee but assumed it was incomplete.

Paul stopped. Lee paused. The rest of the Huskers, and several Red Raiders, assumed it was third down.

But Howard alertly picked up the football and returned it for a touchdown, giving Texas Tech a 14-0 lead with 4:52 left in the first quarter.

An official review of the play confirmed it was a backward pass and thus a fumble.

Helu misses time

NU I-back Roy Helu did not play in the fourth quarter because of a stinger, coach Bo Pelini said. Helu finished with 16 carries for 68 yards and caught one pass for 27 yards after coming back from a shoulder injury suffered late in the Huskers' Big 12 opener.

Starting cornerback Alfonzo Dennard left with a shoulder injury in the second half and did not return.

Brooks and center Jacob Hickman also limped off the field after the game, though both seniors finished the game.

Field-position woes

NU failed to score in the third quarter despite running 12 of 22 plays in Red Raider territory.

Alex Henery missed a 51-yard field-goal try at the end of a drive that began at the Tech 25.

Another second-half drive reached the Red Raider 7 before right guard Ricky Henry was flagged for a personal foul. Henry jumped into a pile of players after a Mendoza rush to the 4. The possession ended on a fourth-and-goal Lee incompletion.

Unintended receiver

Cody Green's third pass of the game left him with a “what-could-have-been” feeling.

Green overthrew a pass across the middle intended for Menelik Holt that appeared in danger of being intercepted. Two defensive backs saw the pass bounce off their hands toward a streaking Curenski Gilleylen, who had worked his way behind the secondary.

Gilleylen juggled the pass before dropping it, turning what could have been a 76-yard scoring play into a fourth-down punt.

No more redshirt

It looks as if Dontrayevous Robinson will join the picture at I-back — eventually.

Nebraska pulled the true freshman from a potential redshirt season Saturday by playing the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder on special teams. Assistant coach Tim Beck said it was a way to ease Robinson into action rather than play him right away at I-back, where the Huskers are looking for a backup to Helu.

“There's still some things he has to learn without the coaches being in the huddle per se and me helping him out, or the quarterback,” Beck said. “I do see him playing in the future. And that was part of the decision, because we knew eventually down the road that he's going to help us.''

Nebraska played only Austin Jones and Mendoza behind Helu on Saturday. Jones entered the game first but was ineffective, and Mendoza got most of the work late, the result of Nebraska being behind and needing to throw the ball. Neither Lester Ward nor Collins Okafor played.

— Nick Rubek, Rich Kaipust, Steven Pivovar, Jon Nyatawa and Mitch Sherman

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