Looking to rebound from the first loss of the season, the No. 22 Nebraska football team put the finishing touches on its gameplan for Saturday’s game against Ball State with a spirited workout, led by the Blackshirt defense.  

Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan said the Huskers had a good week of practice, with one of the major points of emphasis on slowing the Cardinals’ quarterback, Nate Davis. The talented Davis has already thrown for 781 yards and eight touchdowns in two games for the Cardinals this season.  Davis, who has completed 53.3 percent of his passes this season, possesses both elusiveness when he drops back to throw and a powerful arm. 

“He does an awful lot,” Callahan said from Memorial Stadium.  “He’s a productive quarterback that has the ability to make plays outside the pocket.  He has such a strong arm that he can pick up the deep defenders and he has excellent vision.  That’s what makes him dangerous.  He can get out of the pocket, get flushed and move from the boundary to the wide field and throw it clear across or down the field and make big plays.” 

Nebraska may have to face the challenge of facing Davis without a pair of defensive starters.  Defensive end Zach Potter and cornerback Zackary Bowman were both held out of Thursday’s two-and-a-half hour workout in shoulder pads and shorts.  However, neither Potter nor Bowman has been ruled out of Saturday’s game. 

The Huskers also are dealing with the loss of left guard Andy Christenson and continue to assess their options for replacing him.  Included in the mix to replace Christenson are Matt Slauson, Jacob Hickman, Mike Huff, Keith Williams and Jordan Picou. 

“We’re going to still evaluate tonight,” Callahan said of the guard position.  “It’s been a good week of practice for all of those guys.  We’ve used all sorts of different combinations, so we’ll look at that film tonight and see where we’re at.  It’s been a great competition this week.”

The Huskers will close their preparation for Saturday’s 11:37 a.m. contest with Ball State with a walkthrough Friday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.