Husker Football Notebook

Practice report

Eager to get back to work after struggling Saturday, the Nebraska football team worked out inside the Hawks Championship Center on a rainy Monday afternoon in Lincoln.  The Huskers worked out for nearly two hours in shorts, shoulder pads and helmets.

"We had great attitude and great effort," coach Bo Pelini said.  "For a Monday, I thought it was an outstanding practice."

Nebraska adjusted its workout schedule, working a bit more on fundamentals this Monday compared to other weeks.

"We added a little bit more fundamental time," Pelini said.  "It went a little bit longer."

After drawing flags 14 times for 102 yards, Nebraska will look to cut down on its penalties Saturday at Texas Tech.   

"We have to win that aspect of the game," Pelini said.  "We haven't won it the last two weeks, so we have to get it fixed."

Ironically, the Huskers will face the most penalized team in the league Saturday, as the Red Raiders average nearly 10 penalties and 84 penalty yards per game.

On the injury front, linebacker Cody Glenn and safety Rickey Thenarse were held out of Monday's workout after suffering injuries during the Missouri game Saturday.  While both Thenarse and Glenn are day-to-day, the Huskers have begun to form contingency plans, just in case either cannot play Saturday.

"We've already begun to make adjustments," Pelini said.  "We'll see.  We have a number of different options."


Quitting the spitting

Details remain fuzzy, but it appears that the matter of the allegations made by Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel that a Nebraska player spit on him prior to last Saturday night's game at Memorial has been resolved.

"We communicated with Nebraska (Sunday)," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said during Monday's Big 12 coaches' teleconference. "As far as I'm concerned, from the University of Missouri's standpoint, it's a dead issue."

Pinkel declined further comment.

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said that after talking with Missouri coaches, investigating the matter and addressing it with the Cornhuskers, he's ready to move on as well.

"It's a moot issue," Pelini said. "It's over."

Asked if there was any truth to Daniel's accusations, Pelini said: "It's a lot of he said, he said, you know what I'm saying? I don't think either coaching staff was really aware of it."

In talking with Pinkel, Pelini said he wasn't certain which Husker player allegedly spit on Daniel.

"It was a little bit gray," Pelini.


Television talk

The Big 12 Conference has announced that Nebraska's Oct. 18 game at Iowa State will start at 11:30 a.m. and be televised by Versus.

The cable network is available in more than 70 million homes and is carrying several Big 12 games this season.

Game times and television information for Nebraska's games against Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas and Kansas State will be determined six to 12 days in advance. The Huskers' Nov. 28 contest against Colorado is set for 2:30 p.m., with ABC providing a national telecast.

Other Big 12 games selected for telecast on Oct. 18 include: Texas Tech at Texas A&M (11 a.m., FSN); Kansas at Oklahoma (2:30 p.m. or 7 p.m., ABC) and Missouri at Texas (2:30 p.m. or 7 p.m., ABC).


Glenn update

Pelini said Nebraska linebacker Cody Glenn is day to day with an injury after hobbling off the field less than six minutes into last Saturday night's home loss to Missouri.

Pelini said Glenn was missed, but that the senior's absence wasn't the main reason the Tigers racked up 462 yards of total offense and scored on eight of 10 offensive possessions against the Huskers.

"It hurts anytime you lose a good football player like Cody, but that, in no way, determined the outcome of the game," Pelini said. "We got outplayed and out-coached."


Another view

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said Monday that his first impressions from watching video of the Nebraska-Missouri game is that the Tigers are a solid, physical team that is difficult to keep bottled up.

"I think that Missouri had a few big plays on Nebraska and Nebraska unraveled here and there," Leach said. "I don't think it changes the quality of athletes that Nebraska has and some of the good things they have going on there, but I think as they gave up some (big plays), they got frustrated."

Although Missouri and Texas Tech are both regarded as spread offenses, Pelini said the Huskers will use a different approach against the Red Raiders.

"It's a different type of offense, so we'll play it differently," Pelini said. "We need to improve. We need to keep getting better. We need to challenge these guys and play good technique."


Forcing the issue

Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz passed for 290 yards and two TDs in the loss to Missouri, but also made some key mistakes. Late in the first quarter with the ball at the Missouri 26-yard line, the fifth-year senior failed to throw a ball away under pressure on the sideline and was sacked on consecutive plays, knocking the Huskers out of field-goal position.

Later, Ganz tried to force a pass that was intercepted and returned for a score by Missouri's Brock Christopher.

"It's just about making the right decisions and sometimes, Joe tries to do too much," Pelini said. "He's got to take what comes to him and sometimes, you've got to suck it up and pull the ball down and if it's third down, you've got to be willing to punt in those situations."

Pelini said Ganz puts a lot onto his own shoulders -- sometimes too much -- and occasionally tries to make a play when there isn't one to be made.

"Overall, he's played excellent football for us," Pelini said of Ganz.



--Independent News Services