Quick hits from Nebraska’s Tuesday practice, which lasted until 6:15 p.m.

>> Defensive coordinator John Papuchis called Ohio State coach Urban Meyer’s offense “creative, disciplined and explosive”– a touch matchup for any defense.

>> The strongest part of OSU quarterback Braxton Miller’s game, Papuchis said, is how he throws the deep pass. Both Wisconsin and UCLA completed deep passes on the Huskers and drew pass interference penalties. Papuchis said he wants better play out of safeties Daimion Stafford, Harvey Jackson and P.J. Smith.

“I thought they played better in the second half and settled in,” Papuchis said. “We gave up that play on the second play of the game that – give them credit for making the play – but we didn’t handle that very well. We can’t have those explosive-type plays. It leads to points.

“We’ve got to play better early in the game. I thought we’ve played pretty good second halves throughout the year. But I haven’t really liked how we’ve started some of the games. We’ve got to make sure we don’t put ourselves in a hole Saturday night because it’s not going to be that easy to dig ourselves out.”

>> Ohio State runs a lot of spread, one-back sets, Papuchis said, which points to more Ciante Evans at nickel.

“If they stick with what they’re doing, we’ll probably be nickel more than anything else,” Papuchis said.

>> Papuchis said the potential absence of Buckeye running back Jordan Hall — who has a strained PCL — shouldn’t hamper Ohio State much. Carlos Hyde, who is available to play Saturday, ran for 104 yards vs. the Huskers last year.

>> No clear word on whether junior defensive tackle Thad Randle will get the start Saturday. Randle tweaked an already-injured knee in the win over Wisconsin. Papuchis said “we’ll see how the week goes.”

>> Check out Jon Nyatawa’s story Wednesday on how Nebraska’s offense is trying to work through some of the small, nagging mistakes that still dog the unit – despite its explosiveness.

>> Video: Husker football practice (Oct. 2):