Nebraska Prepares for Big Ten Test vs Buckeyes

Lincoln, Neb. — The Nebraska football team practiced for over two hours on Thursday in the Hawks Championship Center in helmets only to prepare for the game against No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday.

Head Coach Scott Frost addressed the media following practice to discuss how the team has been preparing mentally.

“I don’t think there’s any question that we’re playing one of the best teams in the country,” Frost said. “You look at their lineup across the board and it’s hard to find any weak spots. I think they’ve got guys who have a chance to play on Sundays in about every spot. Our guys are ready to challenge them and ready to try. We have to have a mature enough team to look this challenge in the eye and rise to the occasion a little bit. I think we’ll have great fan support to help us do it. We got nothing to lose but to go out and give everything we’ve got and see where the chips fall.”

Frost also commented on how Husker fans can have an impact on the game.

“It’s up to us to try to keep the game close as long as we can, and the longer the game’s close, the more the crowd can have an impact on the game,” Frost said. “It’s gotta be us. It’s gotta be the coaches, the players, the fans, everybody. I hope on big plays and big downs there’s a lot of noise in there and the crowd can get us a play or two.”

Frost talked about the impact that senior cornerback Lamar Jackson and junior cornerback Dicaprio Bootle have on the secondary.

“We’ve talked about how much better we are in the secondary,” Frost said. “Those two guys are big pieces of that. They’ve had a really good year so far. They have a big challenge this week. These receivers that we’re playing this week are better than we’ve seen. There’s not just one of them or two of them, there’s a bunch of them. If you give these guys a crack, they’ll make a big play. I keep watching tape of them playing and watching the defense and the defense gets a stop and it’s 7-0, 14-0, next thing you know it’s 28-5. So they’re creating big plays because of their scheme and the talent they have doing it. Our guys have a big challenge in front of them, but I really like where Dicaprio and Lamar are going.”

Frost also explained the improvements that the team has made from last year.

“There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind where this program is going [and] the improvements that we’ve made that we continue to make,” Frost said. “We’ve got some really good seniors on this team, but the majority of our good players are young still. We’ve got a ton of room to grow and we’re headed in that direction. I think last year we went up to Ann Arbor, [Mich.] and got whipped. We played another talented team when we went to Columbus, [Ohio] and we fought. That was a big improvement. Sooner or later this program is going to be ready to take on that challenge and overcome the challenge. These are the games you want because it lets us see where on that road we are. I don’t have any doubt that we’ll take our swing on Saturday and see how far we’ve come.”

The Huskers continue preparations for No. 5 Ohio State with a light practice on Friday. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM.

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