Lincoln, Neb. – Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini said the Huskers “had a good week of practice” after Thursday’s 45-minute walkthrough at the Hawks Championship Center.

“We got a lot done here today,” Pelini said. “We cleaned up some of the things we went through earlier in the week. We knew that (Purdue) had two weeks to prepare. We threw a lot at our guys and our challenge is to make sure across the board we understand our game plan and we execute.”

Pelini also praised his interior defensive linemen, especially sophomore Maliek Collins, whom Pelini compared to two-time All-American Glenn Dorsey (LSU, 2006-07).

“Maliek Collins reminds me of a player I coached at LSU big time,” Pelini said. “And that’s high praise, because Glenn Dorsey was a heckuva player. Maliek reminds me a lot of Dorsey, except he’s bigger.”

Pelini added that he expects Purdue’s defense to throw a lot at Nebraska’s offense.

“It’s been interesting to watch their evolution,” Pelini said. “They gave us a lot of really unusual looks. This year, they’ve had a number of different looks, a little bit like a flavor of the week type of defense as far as what we’ve seen from these guys. How they decide to come out and play us – your guess is as good as mine to a certain extent. We have to be ready to adjust to what they do. I think our guys understand the plan and what we are doing, and we’ve given them a lot of different looks throughout the week to prepare them.”

On the injury front, Pelini said that he anticipates tight end Cethan Carter to be back after the bye week, which begins following Saturday’s matchup against Purdue. Pelini added that linebacker Marcus Newby and place kicker Mauro Bondi will not be available for Saturday.

The Huskers host Purdue on Saturday at Memorial Stadium at 2:30 p.m. The game will be televised to a regional audience on ABC, and will be available to others on ESPN2 and ESPN3. 

Lincoln, Neb.- The Nebraska football team continued its preparations for its Saturday afternoon Big Ten West showdown with the Purdue Boilermakers on Tuesday afternoon, as the Huskers practiced for nearly two hours inside of the Hawks Championship Center and outside on the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields.

Husker Defensive Coordinator John Papuchis spoke with media members following practice, mentioning that Purdue has been on a roll in recent weeks, after settling on sophomore quarterback Austin Appleby. Appleby replaced Danny Etling who started against Nebraska last season in West Lafayette.

“Since they went to a one quarterback system they have really made some significant strides in their offense in the last three games,” Papuchis said. “They tweaked some things, added a little bit to their package, I think they have been playing really well.”

Purdue also showcases two dynamic running backs, both with an abundance of speed in Akeem Hunt and Raheem Mostert.

“Both backs are pretty dynamic, barely do you ever run into a situation where you have two running backs that are that fast,” he said. “You have to make it that much more imperative to get your gaps down, everyone executing their responsibility and you don’t let a missed gap into a big play.”

Hunt leads the Boilermakers in rushing, with 640 yards on 104 carries, while adding five touchdowns.

NU Offensive Coordinator Tim Beck also spoke with the media after practice, noting that Purdue has definitely improved defensively under second-year Head Coach Darrell Hazell.

“It looks like they have settled defensively, they are big up front, big linebackers and aggressive,” Beck said. “You can see they have settled into what they want to do.”

In last year’s 44-7 win over Purdue, the Huskers were not fazed by some different looks the Boilermakers used on defense. When Beck was asked if he expects the same thing this season, he did not know, but he is confident that the team is prepared for anything.

“I think last year they had some injuries upfront, so I think they had to do that more than they wanted too, I think,” Beck said. “Obviously we are prepared for everything, because the situation—the way that it is, we have to be able to adjust during the game, even this year since they had an extra week to prepare for us.”