Lincoln – The Nebraska football team continued preparations for the 43rd annual AT&T Cotton Bowl with a two-hour practice in half pads on Wednesday inside the Hawks Championship Center.

Offensive Coordinator Jay Norvell met with the media following practice and was pleased with what Nebraska was able to accomplish in the two-hour workout.

“Practice was good today,” Norvell said. “We did some different situations and worked on some third downs. We’ll get a chance to get most of the gameplan in before we got to Texas, which is great. The kids will get a couple of different chances to work on it.

“It was really good work today, we got a lot of things accomplished.”

In addition to working on the gameplan for Auburn, Norvell said the Huskers are also looking at themselves and, in particular, any tendencies the team may have shown this season.

“We’re working a lot of fundamentals, but we’re also working a lot on scouting ourselves and making sure that we’re not having strong tendencies,” Norvell said. “We want to do a good job of preparing and you have extra time to add certain things, too.”

Nebraska made the most of its bowl preparation last year, as the Huskers put together their most complete game of the year in a 32-28 win over Michigan in the Alamo Bowl. Norvell says the coaching staff has used a similar plan this season and has been happy with the effort of the team.

“(The practices are) very similar (to last year). We worked hard last year in our bowl preparation, especially before we went down (to San Antonio). This week is a tough week. Our guys are grinding through it. We have extra meeting time and we really want to try and know these guys before we go down to Dallas.”

With Nebraska playing on a New Year’s Day bowl, the extra time not only gives the coaching staff extra time to prepare, but it also gives the Huskers a chance to head home for the holidays.

“I think it’s great,” Norvell said. “I think it’s a great break for the guys. They’ve been working really hard; they’ve had finals and practice and have worked pretty hard this week. I think it will be a nice treat for them.”

Nebraska completes its Cotton Bowl preparations in Lincoln on Thursday with meetings in the morning before an early afternoon practice.