Huskers Conduct Scrimmage Work in Saturday Practice

Lincoln - Exactly two weeks away from its Sept. 4 season opener, the Nebraska football team went through a two-hour full-padded workout on the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields Saturday in Lincoln. It was the 18th practice of 2010 fall camp and included an hour of scrimmage work.

The Husker coaching staff continues to evaluate the progress of the quarterback position between senior Zac Lee, sophomore Cody Green and redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez. Nebraska has 11 practices remaining in fall camp.

"There is no timetable," Head Coach Bo Pelini said. "It's great competition. I see all three guys getting better. I think the picture is becoming a little bit clearer for us, but nothing has been decided yet."

Other news Saturday came in the form of the release of the preseason Associated Press Poll. Nebraska checks in at No. 8 in the poll, one of three Big 12 teams ranked in the top 10, along with fifth-ranked Texas and No. 7 Oklahoma. Defending national champion Alabama was the preseason No. 1 choice, followed by Ohio State, Boise State and Florida.

Although Pelini's goals and concentration are on the football field, the third-year head coach did note the importance of being in a good starting position and not having to work their way up the rankings throughout the season.

"That's always a positive," he said. "That's just something where I think people recognized we played pretty good football at the end of last year, but that really doesn't have a lot to do with where we are now and what we have to accomplish. It's really something that we're not in control of as a football team. All we can control is what we have to do on a daily basis, but it is a positive that we're up there a little bit higher than we have been in years past."

The No. 8 ranking marks Nebraska's highest in the preseason AP poll since beginning at No. 4 in the 2001 listing. It also marks the first time the Huskers have been ranked in the AP preseason top 10 since being ranked 10th to start 2002. The Huskers' appearance in the top 10 marks the first time NU has been among the top 10 AP teams at any time since being ranked 10th in October of 2003 after starting 5-0. Nebraska finished the 2009 campaign ranked 14th in the final Associated Press poll, NU's highest post-season ranking since finishing eighth in 2001.

"We have a lot of work to do," Pelini said. "That all takes care of itself. If we play good football, then we deserve it. Hopefully we can move up from there if we do what we're capable of doing."

Pelini addressed the injury situation, which includes junior cornerback Anthony Blue and sophomore linebacker Sean Fisher. Pelini does not expect either player to return in 2010 and has begun evaluating talent to replace Blue and Fisher on the defensive side of the ball.

"Obviously we feel bad for both those guys," Pelini said. "This is Blue's second one in a year and a half. That's tough on him, but he's in good spirits. He'll have surgery next week. It's really deep back there (secondary) so that's not a big issue. At linebacker, we have Will Compton working in there, Lavonte David, Eric Martin, Matt May. We have a lot of options, a lot of interchangeable parts."

Pelini also added the status of tight end Dreu Young. The senior will be undergoing back surgery and his status for the 2010 season is undetermined at this time.

Nebraska has Sunday off and returns to the practice field Monday afternoon.