Lincoln – Nebraska got a sample of the nice weather it’s expecting for Saturday’s game by practicing outside on the Ed and Joyanne Gass Practice Fields Thursday afternoon, marking the first time the Huskers have practiced on the fields since the end of fall camp.

“We’ve had so much rain that we’ve been reluctant to go on it,” head coach Bill Callahan said. “We didn’t want anyone to slip or pull something and have an injury occur. We’ve been really conservative.”

Nebraska will be facing a fast and talented 19th-ranked Texas squad on natural grass Saturday afternoon. Callahan noted he has not coached in Austin as a collegiate coach, but has familiarity with the city as he worked with players there during his time in the NFL.

“It’s a great place,” Callahan said. “They have a great atmosphere and a good team. They’re very talented. They present so many challenges because of their speed and their match-ups, so it’s going to be exciting.” 

Nebraska is 1-2 in Austin all-time, with its lone win coming in 1960 against then-No. 4 Texas, 14-13.

The Huskers may be without the contributions of senior linebacker Bo Ruud and senior center Brett Byford, but Callahan said it would be a game time decision. Neither Ruud, Byford or freshman linebacker Blake Lawrence practiced on Thursday, but the senior captains will make the trip to Austin, while Lawrence’s travel status is undecided.

“We’ll work them out and take it (the decision) all the way up to game time,” Callahan said. “We usually go out there prior to pre-game and we’ll work them out to see where they’re at. There’s a good chance they could play.”

Nebraska will board a plane Friday morning for Austin and then go through a walk-thru at Darrell K. Royal Field in the afternoon. Saturday’s kickoff with the 19th-ranked Longhorns is set for 2:30 p.m. on ABC.