Huskers Gear Up for Meeting with Penn State

Lincoln -- The Nebraska football team continued preparations for this weekend's contest against Penn State, as it worked through more than two hours of practice in full pads on the Memorial Stadium turf Tuesday. Nebraska head coach Frank Solich said the Huskers were a bit off their game, but that may be to be expected at this point in the season.

"They were a little tired today. It was obvious that when you combine fall camp to two games and school, if you're not careful you'll be down pretty good," Solich said. "They'll bounce back from it. They worked their way through practice. It was not one of our better practices, but I think they tried to push themselves a little bit, so that part of it remains good."

Nebraska worked on specific drills to help better production in the red zone this weekend. The Huskers, who have scored just four touchdowns in 13 chances inside the opponents' 20-yard line in their first two games, made some progress, according to Solich.

"We still need work there, but it was a good drill to make sure that we're getting backs in the end zone regardless of what kind of play it is, and to finish the play off. That end of it was really good," Solich said. "It's just really a mindset once you get down there, not operating in a manner that causes yourself to be set back because of penalties, and then the great mindset of about putting it in the endzone."

While the offense is looking for ways to improve on its scoring chances, the Nebraska Blackshirts are preparing to stop Penn State, no matter who is guiding the team. The Nittany Lions played two quarterbacks, Zack Mills and Michael Robinson, almost equally last weekend in a 27-14 loss to unranked Boston College.

"I think you really prepare for what you have seen them do," Solich said. "They'll, of course, be like every other team, and like us, and they'll throw a few things in to try to get you off-balance a little bit. You really can't start to play just to one quarterback alone. You hope the whole (defensive) package is multiple enough to be able to cover everything."

The Huskers will practice again on Wednesday afternoon before putting the final touches on the game plan on Thursday.