Texas Tech received a total of one vote in the two major college football polls last week, the same number as Idaho and Navy. If the Red Raiders aren’t among the top 25 when the new polls come out Sunday – the first BCS standings also will be released – then the voters haven’t been paying attention.

The Raiders looked like an elite team while throttling Kansas State 66-14 last week, and what they did in Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday was even more impressive. Tech cruised to a 31-10 win over No. 15 Nebraska – which I still think is the best team in the Big 12 North Division – and did so in a way that should command respect all across the country.

The Cornhuskers came into the game with a billing as one of the nation’s best defenses – they had the numbers to back it up – and Tech beat them at their own game. The Raiders allowed only 285 total yards and one touchdown while increasing their conference-leading sack total by five, and they also forced two turnovers.

Tech’s defense found the end zone as often as Nebraska’s offense, with Daniel Howard returning a fumble 82 yards for a touchdown that gave the Raiders a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Ruffin McNeill’s unit seems to be growing meaner and more confident with each passing week, which is great news for Tech and bad news for the rest of the Big 12. The Raiders are and will continue to be an offensive machine, and they appear to have a top-flight defense, too.

As for Tech’s offense,  it had one of the worst performances of the Mike Leach era and still produced 24 points against a stout defense on the road. The Raiders’ 259 total yards was their lowest output since Leach’s first game as head coach in 2000, but like he has done since he entered the New Mexico game shortly before halftime, quarterback Steven Sheffield made enough key plays at key times and found a way to score points.

Sticks withstood five sacks by Nebraska to complete 72 of his passes for 234 yards and a touchdown, and he also rushed for two scores.

Sheffield has infused the Red Raiders with a passion and a swagger they were lacking under Taylor Potts, and if he hasn’t nailed down the starter’s role for the foreseeable future, he never will.

The Raiders’ season seemed to be spiraling out of control before Sticks took the field against the Lobos on Oct. 3, but now they’re squarely in the hunt for the Big 12 South title – even with the early loss to still-undefeated Texas. Tech’s next two games are at home against teams that lost on Saturday (Texas A&M and Kansas), and next up are Oklahoma State and Oklahoma teams that look increasingly vulnerable and a gimme of a regular-season finale against Baylor.

The Raiders look like a team that can run the table the rest of the way, and if that happens they’ll be impossible to ignore. And depending on how the Longhorns do, that might also be enough to earn Tech its first trip to the conference title game and perhaps an invitation to a BCS bowl.

There’s still a long way to go, but Tech’s season looks much more promising than it did at the start of this month.