The Nebraska football team inched closer to its first home game in 21 days with a two-hour practice in the Hawks Championship Center Thursday. Coming off a 35-7 win at Iowa State last Saturday, the Huskers are eager to show continued improvement this Saturday against the Baylor Bears.

“I thought we finished up a good week of practice,” Head Coach Bo Pelini said. “I think our kids are ready to play some football. I really do. I think they see themselves getting better and this gives us another opportunity to take another step as a football team. We have a quality opponent with a lot of talent coming in here. We know we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

The Huskers have lost their last two home games to Virginia Tech and Missouri, but NU found a spark in an overtime loss at No. 7 Texas Tech and a decisive victory at Iowa State.

Pelini has praised his team’s effort in practice the past two weeks and hopes that the Huskers once again carry it over to the game.

“Bottom line is this: when the attitude going into practice and your attitude at practice during the week is good – meaning they’re out there and they’re disciplined and focused and competing every single day – even if you have mistakes you get them fixed and you play well on Saturday,” Pelini said. “But when you have guys that are feeling sorry for themselves or guys that you can see they’re just trying to get through it, usually those weeks are the weeks you don’t perform well. It’s not just about execution and not making mistakes; it’s about attitude. It’s about competing. It’s about practicing with the type of effort and mental focus you need to play well on Saturday. I think now that’s what we’re doing well.”

Kickoff is set for 11:30 a.m. and the game can be seen on Versus.