3:15 p.m. After three days of silence, the media blackout at Nebraska football practice is officially over. So, as expected, the two dozen reporters crowding around coach Bo Pelini Saturday had plenty of questions.

Pelini spoke for about 15 minutes, covering lots of topics. Assistants and players weren't available to be interviewed and Pelini said they won't talk again until Tuesday.

Anyway, here's a quick summary of the Pelini conversation:

> Senior Dreu Young will have back surgery. He's out infinitely. Pelini doesn't expect Young to return before the season's midway point and it's possible that the team's top tight end may not be healthy enough to play at all this year.

> Pelini said things are getting clearer in the race for the No. 1 quarterback spot, but the staff still has more evaluating to do before it will announce its decision. Pelini declined to elaborate further.

> Nebraska's ranked No. 8 in this year's preseason AP poll. Pelini thoughts: “I don't really pay attention to any of that stuff. That's pretty irrelevant to what we're doing, where we're going.”

> Here are the players Pelini mentioned when asked how the Huskers will go about replacing injured linebacker Sean Fisher: Will Compton, Eric Martin, Lavonte David and Mathew May.

> Most have heard that Pelini on Wednesday banned the team from conducting interviews until Saturday. He also didn't allow ex-Huskers, current players' family members and program boosters to watch practices (they're normally welcomed). As stated in a few articles recently, Pelini said Saturday that the temporary lockdown was because he “wasn't real happy with the way a couple situations were handled.”

> Nebraska scrimmaged for about an hour Saturday. The roster will expand Monday when fall classes begin, but the plan is to continue a camp-like practice structure until Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, game planning for the Sept. 4 opener begins.

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