Lincoln, Neb. – The Nebraska football team continued its week of preparation for Saturday’s Big Ten Conference matchup at Purdue on Tuesday afternoon. The team practiced in full pads for just over two hours inside the Hawks Center and outside at the Ed and Joyanne Gass Practice Fields.
Offensive Coordinator Tim Beck addressed the media after practice, focusing on the Purdue defense the Huskers will faceon Saturday morning (11 a.m. CT start)
“Defensively, they play hard,” Beck said. “They run to the football. They tackle well, and they hit well. We have to come to play. They’re going to be fast, they’re going to play hard and they’re going to hit you.”
One area the Huskers will look to improve on against Purdue is the ability to finish drives late in the game. Although Nebraska outrushed Illinois 335-195 in Saturday’s Big Ten opener, the squad only scored three points in the final 17 minutes of the game. Coach Beck commented on his frustration and aims to improve that area this week against Purdue.
“We put in our plan today and there’s always a little bit of a learning curve when you first put stuff in,” Beck said. “We’re just trying to keep working to improve. Late in the last game, I thought we moved the ball okay, but we didn’t finish. We have to be better at finishing off those drives.”
A key to Nebraska’s success will once again be the play of quarterback Tommy Armstrong, as the redshirt freshman has thrown for 304 yards and three touchdowns this season, impressing Coach Beck with his composure.
“(Tommy Armstrong) has done a good job of being level-headed and staying poised,” Beck said. “I coached him pretty hard today, but I know that he’s the kind of guy that doesn’t let things get to him. He will need to do that on the road against a faster, more aggressive defensive football team.”
Husker fans should also be prepared to see Ron Kellogg III behind center on Saturday. According to Beck, Nebraska will use both quarterbacks in order to see who’s playing well and keep both ready in case of injury.
“You never know who’s got the hot hand,” Beck said. “You never know what’s going to happen. You better have guys ready to go in there and play. You have to play both (Tommy Armstrong) and (Ron Kellogg) so that if you have to go back to them later in the game, you aren’t going to a guy who hasn’t played at all.”
Nebraska will hit the practice field again on Wednesday as the team moves closer to its second conference game of the season. NU will face the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be broadcast nationally on BTN.