Lincoln, Neb.—The Nebraska football team worked out in helmets only for over two hours on Thursday inside the Hawks Championship Center.

Head Coach Scott Frost addressed the media following practice to talk about Wisconsin's defense.
"We're not going to get many chances, first of all, in a game like this," Frost said. "I assume they're going to try to control the clock on offense, so you have to be efficient. I think they have good players on all three levels. Obviously, number 56 (outside linebacker Zack Baun) is a pretty special player, pass rush and everything else. He's surrounded by a bunch of good players. They're going to try to lock you down outside and load the box, make it hard to run and have pretty tight coverage on your guys. We have to block well, and we have to run good routes and complete some."

Frost mentioned the energy of the team after the bye week.
"The vast majority of our team is positive and excited," Frost said. "They're excited for the game this weekend and for things in the future. It's not all, but it's the vast majority. I love the energy all week, especially today."

Frost also commented on freshman Wan'Dale Robinson, who was named a finalist for the Hornung Award Thursday morning.
"Wan'Dale is a weapon for us," Frost said. "He's going to be a weapon for us for a long time. He's a really good person on top of being a good player. We're lucky to have him in the program. I think you've only started to see all the things that he will be able to do for us. We recruited the right guy. I think he's going to continue to get better and we're going to have more and more ways we can use him. Congratulations to him, and I hope we have more guys up for awards in the future."

Frost concluded with talking about junior wide receiver JD Spielman.
"The way they play defense, you're going to have to get some shots on them," Frost said. "They're not going to give you [anything] easy. It's hard to grind out drives against these guys so you're going to have to try to make a big play here and there. The teams that have done okay against them hit a couple long passes, and that keeps you in the game with them. Those big plays have to happen. Last year, we had one big play to JD. We had quite a few yards last year, but we didn't score enough points. If we can somehow emulate the ability to move the ball, we have to finish some of those plays and get them to the endzone."

Nebraska will take the practice field again on Friday with a light practice in preparation for Wisconsin. Saturday's game will begin at 11 a.m. and will be televised on BTN. Fans can also listen to the game on the Husker Sports Network.

Robinson Named Finalist for Paul Hornung Award

Nebraska freshman Wan'Dale Robinson has been honored for his outstanding all-purpose play for the 2019 Huskers. Robinson was named Thursday as one of four finalists for the Paul Hornung Award, given annually to the most versatile player in college football as presented by the Louisville Sports Commission.

The 5-10, 190-pound Robinson is joined in the group of finalist by Kentucky junior wide receiver/quarterback/kick returner Lynn Bowden Jr., LSU junior running back/kick returner Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Virginia wide receiver/kicker returner Joe Reed.

Robinson leads Nebraska with 1,015 all-purpose yards and ranks second nationally in all-purpose yards among freshmen at 112.8 yards per game. Robinson is just the fourth true freshman in school history to surpass 1,000 all-purpose yards, joining Ahman Green (1995), Ameer Abdullah (2011) and De'Mornay Pierson-El (2014). For his efforts this season, Robinson was a mid-season freshman All-American by the FWAA and The Athletic, and is a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

Robinson has split his time between wide receiver and running back, in addition to handling kickoff return duties. Robinson's team-leading 40 catches and 463 receiving yards are the most by a true freshman in Nebraska history.

On the ground, Robinson has rushed for 326 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for better than 80 yards twice this season. Robinson has added 236 yards on 11 kickoff returns.

Robinson's selection marks the second time Nebraska has had a Hornung Award finalist, joining Ameer Abdullah who achieved the honor in 2014. Past winners of the Hornung Award include Rondale Moore (Purdue, 2018), Saquon Barkley (Penn State, 2017), Christian McCaffrey (Stanford, 2015) and Odell Beckham Jr. (LSU, 2013).

Just a year ago, Robinson captured the high school Paul Hornung Award, presented annually by the Louisville Quarterback Club to the top high school football player in Kentucky. Robinson had 1,973 rushing yards, 725 receiving yards and scored 45 touchdowns as a senior at Western Hills High School in Frankfort, Ky.

Stille Earns Academic All-District Honors

Lincoln – University of Nebraska defensive lineman Ben Stille has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VII team released Thursday. Stille, a junior defensive lineman from Ashland, Neb., will now advance to the national ballot, as he looks to increase Nebraska's nation-leading total of 338 Academic All-Americans.

This season, Stille has played in all nine games for the Blackshirts, totaling 23 tackles, including six tackles for loss. He is tied for third on the team with 2.5 sacks and ranks second on the Huskers with five quarterback hurries. He had a career-high five tackles against Northwestern and has recorded at least half a sack in three of the Huskers' last four contests.

In the classroom, Stille carries a 3.39 GPA in Nutrition Health Sciences and has been named Academic All-Big Ten in each of the past two seasons. He is also active in NU's Life Skills program and was a nominee for the AFCA Good Works Team and Wuerffel Trophy in 2019.

The 2019 Academic All-America team will be announced on Dec. 9. Stille and the Huskers will be in action on Saturday when they host No. 15 Wisconsin at 11 a.m. The game will be televised by BTN and carried on the Learfield-IMG Husker Sports Network.