LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Eight weeks into the season, Texas finally is playing outside the Lone Star state.

Judging by the No. 5 Longhorns’ recent history, they shouldn’t be fazed when they visit No. 17 Nebraska (6-1, 3-0 Big 12) on Saturday.

Texas (6-1, 3-0) has won a school-record 15 consecutive road games and 27 of its last 28.

“It might be a little bit difficult, but everybody on this team has been through road games before,” quarterback Colt McCoy said. “Going to Nebraska is going to be a challenge. It’s not going to be easy to go up there and pull a win out.”

McCoy, a redshirt freshman, will encounter the most hostile environment he’s faced since taking over for Vince Young. No one, after all, is counting a 52-7 win over Rice in Houston five weeks ago as a rigorous road trip. Half the crowd there cheered the Longhorns.

McCoy has been mostly unflappable so far. He ranks fifth nationally in passer rating, having completed 68.7 percent for 1,229 yards and 18 touchdowns. He’s been intercepted just three times.

Last week, McCoy threw for 275 yards and a school-record six TDs in a 63-31 victory over Baylor. This week, McCoy will be going against a Nebraska defense that has allowed a total of seven touchdown passes in seven games.

Texas coach Mack Brown said he isn’t overly concerned about how his young quarterback will respond to Memorial Stadium’s 82,000-strong “Sea of Red.”

Brown pointed out that McCoy traveled to last year’s road games against Ohio State and Texas A&M and to the annual showdown with Oklahoma in Dallas. McCoy also soaked up the environment of last season’s national championship game at the Rose Bowl.

“He’s looking forward to this,” Brown said. “He’s grown up in a coaching family, and a football fan, and anybody who is not excited about coming to Lincoln, Nebraska, shouldn’t be on scholarship in football.”

McCoy has thrown to 12 different receivers, including top target Limas Sweed, who has 27 catches for 476 yards and eight touchdowns.

“I think he is just getting more comfortable taking chances down the field,” offensive tackle Justin Blalock said. “He is trusting the playmakers we have out there, and last game, I think it paid off pretty well. There is a lot of talent to take advantage of.”

Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor made an appeal to fans this week to raise the noise level when the Longhorns are on offense.

“We always have a great crowd. They’re always loud,” Taylor said. “This game is no different, but I think they can really help us out this game and just give Texas’ offense some problems. Having been on the road the last two weeks, I’m kind of tired of that happening to me.”

McCoy said he knows what’s coming.

“We’ll probably need to have a lot of checks, audibles and signals,” he said. “It will be loud to talk in the huddle and tough to make different play calls at the line of scrimmage.”

Texas has won five of six meetings with the Huskers since the Big 12 began play in 1996. They’ve won both games played in Lincoln.

In 1998, Brown’s first Texas squad came in unranked and beat the Huskers 20-16 to end Nebraska’s 47-game home winning streak. In 2002, the Longhorns’ 27-24 win broke Nebraska’s 26-game home winning streak.

Given the history of Nebraska and Texas – they are among only four programs with 800 wins – some Longhorn players are actually looking forward to playing in Lincoln.

“One of my buddies who played at Baylor said it was the most amazing atmosphere he’s ever played in with the fans,” wide receiver Quan Cosby said. “They have great history, very similar to UT. It’s going to be nothing but red in the stadium. But since they’re such great fans and sports fans, it’s going to be a great atmosphere to play in.”

AP-ES-10-20-06 1443EDT

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