Nebraska Football Notebook

Practice report

LINCOLN  --  The Nebraska football team utilized both the Hawks Championship Center and the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields Wednesday as it prepared for its battle with No. 7-ranked Texas Tech on Saturday.  The Huskers worked out for a little over two hours in full pads in preparation for their first road test of the season. 

The Huskers pumped in artificial crowd noise using a sound system during several periods of the practice to simulate the type of atmosphere the Huskers will face on the road at AT&T Jones Stadium. Head coach Bo Pelini said he liked the way his team performed.

"Good practice," Pelini said. "There as still some things we need to get fixed. It wasn't perfect, but the effort was good. I thought we improved."

One of the strong points for Texas Tech heading into this week's game is its offensive line. The Red Raiders rank second in the nation in sacks allowed, allowing only one through the first five games.

"They're big," Pelini said. "It's a little bit unconventional. They make the wide splits really big.  They are really soft-set on the pass. They use their size and mass. They're as big a group as you're going to see."

Saturday's game will air nationally on Fox Sports Network with kickoff set for 2:10 p.m.  The allotted 70-man travel roster has not yet been finalized for the Huskers.



Fisher not in plan

True freshman Sean Fisher isn't being considered as a replacement for one of the team's starting linebackers who missed practice on Monday, according to Pelini.

Senior Cody Glenn, the team's top weakside linebacker, injured his foot during Nebraska's game against Missouri on Saturday. Pelini labeled Glenn's status as day-to-day.

But Fisher won't be thrown into any of the team's contingency plans that have already developed just in case Glenn can't go against Texas Tech, Pelini said.

Fisher, a strongside linebacker who's listed at No. 2 on the depth chart behind senior Tyler Wortman, hasn't seen any game action since the season opener, when he entered on a few special teams plays.

"It wouldn't be the right thing for him," Pelini said.

Two other injured Huskers  --  junior safeties Rickey Thenarse and Larry Asante  --  should be healthy for Saturday's game, according to defensive backs coach Marvin Sanders.



 Rare theft

A 23-year-old fan, trying to leave Saturday's Nebraska-Missouri matchup with a game day football, was cited Saturday for the rare theft, according to police.

The fan sitting in Section 16 on the south side of the stadium took the football  --  which entered the stands after a made extra point. He then stuck the ball under his shirt and attempted to leave the stadium with it, according to UNL police spokesman Carl Oestmann.

Police confronted the fan from South Dakota at Gate 24. He was cited and released for theft by unlawful taking.

Normally, fans simply throw the game footballs back to the field, Oestmann said. He doesn't recall a theft like this ever occurring.

The football, valued at $100, was eventually returned to the University of Missouri, Oestmann said. The fan, not a season ticket holder, was ejected.



Communication woes

Nebraska cornerback Anthony West said some of Nebraska's problems defensively in its 52-17 loss to Missouri had to do with communication. Players in the NU secondary, he said, sometimes had problems getting the defensive call.

That's not a promising thing as the Huskers head into a hostile atmosphere  --  and against a similar offense  --  at Texas Tech. Behind the passing of Graham Harrell, the Red Raiders are averaging 583.4 yards and 48.2 points a game.

"It's something we've got to work on coming into next week," West said. "I know it's something we're really going to work on and get fixed. I know we can do it."



 -- Independent News Services