Huskers Conclude Preparations for Utah State

Lincoln ? The Nebraska football team wrapped up the week's preparation for Saturday's game with Utah State with an hour and 45 minute workout under sunny skies inside Memorial Stadium Thursday afternoon.

"Today went fairly well," Nebraska Coach Frank Solich said. "They were focused on getting the right things done, which was a very good sign. We have an awful lot that we need to improve on, and they (the players) know that and we addressed it this week, so we expect to see improvement in a number of areas."

Solich believes that the Aggies, who lost their opener to Utah 40-20 on Aug. 28, will be ready for Saturday's nationally televised contest with the No. 23/24 (AP/Coaches) Huskers.

"I think Utah State will come in and play very hard," Solich said. "From reading the comments, their coach thinks they are a very good football team, and he expects them to come in and play to their potential and be ready to go. It ought to be a game with a lot of physical contact, and we'll hope that we keep getting better."

Solich announced that junior strong safety Phil Bland has been named the honorary special teams captain for Saturday's game after his performance against Oklahoma State in last Saturday's 17-7 win over the Cowboys.

"Phil Bland played on three special teams units last week and did a good job, so we made him our captain on special teams for Saturday," Solich said.

Solich also announced that freshman Joe Dailey will be the Huskers' backup quarterback on Saturday. Dailey is expected to see his first collegiate action against the Aggies, as the Huskers plan to use both of their top two signal callers.

"We'll put Joe in second." Solich said. "From what transpired not only this week, but also in the fall. Joe has shown potential, his arm is stronger at this point, and he is getting a pretty good command of the offense, so the decision was made to put in second in on Saturday. When we added it all up, we felt that he needs to get some reps."

Solich was impressed with the efforts of both Dailey and junior Mike Stuntz, and said that while Dailey will be the primary backup this weekend, the battle will continue throughout the fall.

Both the Huskers and Aggies will conduct walk-throughs Friday afternoon inside Memorial Stadium. Utah State, which is seeking their first win in eight tries against Nebraska, will work out at 2 p.m. while Coach Mick Dennehy will address the media before the practice. The first part of Utah State's practice will be open to the media.

Nebraska will conduct its walk-through at 3:30 p.m., with Coach Solich addressing the media prior to the short workout.