Lincoln--- The Nebraska football team practiced for two hours Tuesday at the Hawks Championship Center. The Huskers are preparing to host the Iowa State Cyclones Saturday. Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson noted that he's been encouraged with the Huskers' ability to take challenges and bounce back after a loss to Texas Tech last Saturday.
"We've learned a lot from them," Watson said. "They are a good group of guys. They have a lot of resiliency. They are young, but they've done a nice job of responding to the challenges we've made to them. We had a really good practice today. It felt like us."
Watson noted that while the quarterbacks are competing, they are also continually playing physical ball in practice. Even though they are not participating in a full scrimmage, they take their share of hits.
"We have young quarterbacks and they need a true sense of what it's like in a game," Watson said. "It helps evaluate their ability to play in the pocket."
Watson sees his offensive group experiencing the same sort of growing pains that went through the defense a year ago.
"We're really talented, but we're young," Watson said. "We're a group of guys like our defense last year. We have guys that have to learn how to play football at a high level. I think we have a real talented group of guys and we have to just keep working with them and continue to coach."
After scouting Iowa State's defensive philosophy, Watson said that he is impressed with the brand of football they are playing.
"Iowa State is playing really good football," he said. "I've been impressed with their defense scheme-wise, they really short up. They play a scheme similar to our guys and they are playing it really well. They haven't had the expansive package our guys do, but they are in year one. I'm really impressed with what they've done with their effort and what they've done in terms of their scheme."
The Huskers will return to the practice field on Wednesday afternoon. Kick off for the Iowa State game is set for 11:30 a.m. and can be seen on FSN. Check back to Huskers.com for more updates on the Nebraska football team throughout the week.
