Huskers Expect Special Teams Battle

LINCOLN ? The Nebraska football team concluded the full-scale phase of its game-week practice schedule Thursday with a two-hour workout inside Memorial Stadium.

Head Coach Bill Callahan and his staff will finalize the 70-man travel roster Thursday evening based on several factors.

"I’m going to go upstairs here shortly and figure that all out, based on practice film, how guys moved today and where we’re at from a health standpoint." Callahan said.

NU expects Saturday’s battle with Baylor to be heavily impacted by both squads’ special teams units, Callahan said. The Bears’ offense has benefited from an average starting field position of their own 38-yard line this season.

"It’s going to be a challenge," Callahan said. "It’s going to be fun. I keep saying this, but again, I think this game is going to come down to special teams and field position. If your average starting position is the 38, then you are essentially playing with a 60-yard field. If you take 20 to 25 more away (for field goal scoring range), you’re playing with only a 35-yard field to put points up. That’s a very short field, so we need to eliminate that for them."

On the injury front, each of the three Husker wide receivers who suffered injuries during last Saturday’s game with Texas Tech?Isaiah Fluellen, Frantz Hardy and Mark LeFlore?practiced on Thursday. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who has missed the last few weeks while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, also returned to practice, nearly one week ahead of schedule.

"(Suh) practiced yesterday in pads, and had an excellent first day back," Callahan said. "We weren’t expecting him back until next week, but he’s responding really well to treatment and therapy. He came out and practiced very physical yesterday."

Nebraska will hold a light workout Friday morning before leaving for Waco, Texas, early in the afternoon. The team will also stop by Baylor’s Floyd Casey Stadium after arriving in Waco.