Who doesn’t want to see cool places and new faces? The Nebraska football team is ready to go.

Coach Bo Pelini and linebacker Sean Fisher, who represented the Cornhuskers on the Big Ten’s spring football teleconference, agreed the chance to play against new teams is among the highlights of joining the Big Ten Conference.

After competing in the Big 12 last season, Nebraska will play 23 different teams in a two-year stretch.

“They've played in most if not all the Big 12 stadiums, and they'll get a chance to make their rounds through the Big Ten,” Pelini said. “That's a fun thing for a kid, to experience all those different venues and different traditions that represent college football.”

The Nebraska football players will get their first look at Michigan Stadium on Nov. 19.

Nebraska will play road games at Wisconsin, Minnesota, Penn State and Michigan (Nov. 19) this season.

“It's an extremely fortunate thing for us. There's not a lot of kids who get the opportunity to do this,” said Fisher. “Most kids get into school and you're in the conference that you're in for the four or five years that you're here.”

On the other hand, preparing for 11 new opponents in 2011 “is a bit of a challenge,” Pelini said. He said the team hasn’t discussed Big Ten opponents at all during the spring, focusing on their own development instead. The process of studying those teams will start after the upcoming recruiting period ends in May.

“It really just requires a little bit more work in the off-season. We've always gone ahead and looked at our new opponents on the schedule. We just have a few more to look at this year,” Pelini said.

While discussing the addition of Nebraska to the Big Ten, Michigan coach Brady Hoke was asked about the day his Ball State team nearly upset the Cornhuskers in Lincoln. The Cardinals lost 41-40 in September 2007.

"Our guys played their hearts out, but couldn’t quite get it done," Hoke said. "It’s like anything else … when you lose, you haven’t quite accomplished what you set out to do."

KEEPING THE QB HEALTHY

Michigan isn’t the only Big Ten football team taking measures to keep its star quarterback injury-free this season.

Although he took nowhere near the pounding that Michigan’s Denard Robinson took during the season, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald discussed the need for Dan Persa to take fewer hits during the season.

Robinson, who rushed 256 times for Michigan last season, missed time in 10 of 13 games with an assortment of injuries, mainly on his knee, shoulder and head. Offensive coordinator Al Borges has said Robinson will have fewer designed runs this season.

Persa, who suffered a season-ending tear to his right Achilles’ tendon last season, rushed a team-high 164 times for 717 yards. Although a season’s worth of pounding didn’t result in the Achilles’ injury, they’ve talked about having him take fewer hits this season.

“Danny will be the first to say that he learned some valuable lessons last year. It’s fine for him to move around and scramble, but he has to get down and, at times,” Fitzgerald said.

Persa is still being held out of spring drills, but Fitzgerald says he will be “full-go” in the fall.

“I knew people were a lot bigger in this league than in high school, but I always thought of myself as a strong kid,” Persa said. “Once I started getting hit after the first couple of games I was like, ‘Wow, they weren’t lying.’”

Terrelle Pryor and NFL talk

Terrelle Pryor took to Twitter recently to debunk rumors that he’ll forego his suspension-shortened senior season at Ohio State to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft.

On Wednesday, it was Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel’s turn to challenge statements made about Pryor’s future in professional football. ESPN’s Mel Kiper told the Columbus Dispatch that he projects Pryor as a tight end at the next level.

Tressel said he spoke to NFL executives about Pryor during the Buckeyes’ pro day earlier this year and is convinced he’ll be drafted as a quarterback. “Almost every one of them, to a man, talked about how he made a quantam leap last year in how he managed the game,” Tressel said.

Pryor and Tressel - along with players Mike Adams, Daniel Herron, Devier Posey and Solomon Thomas - will miss the Buckeyes’ first five games because of suspensions stemming from selling awards and receiving improper benefits.

Tressel doesn’t think the shortened senior season will impact Pryor’s draft status.

“Whether he plays seven games or 12 games really isn’t as important as how he performs in those seven games,” he said.

Dantonio holds up the line

Michigan State returns quarterback Kirk Cousins and a trio of talented tailbacks in Edwin Baker, Le’Veon Bell and Larry Caper. The question mark on offense is the offensive line, which lost three starters.

Right guard Chris McDonald is the only returning starter practicing this spring while left guard Joel Foreman recovers from a wrist injury.

"If you can win up front and run the football effectively, which is what we're going to be about, then you've got a great chance," Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said. “We’re young, but I see great athletic ability.

“A lot of these guys have three years to play yet, so that’s a positive for us. The future looks very bright, as bright as it ever has here on the offensive line."

Said Cousins of spring practice: “I don’t think I’d say (offensive line) is an area of concern, I’d say it’s an area of focus.”

Breaking in new quarterbacks

With eight of 12 Big Ten teams returning their starters, quarterback should be a position of strength in the conference.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz sounds comfortable with his replacement for three-year starter Ricky Stanzi.

Redshirt junior James Vandenberg played two games when Stanzi was injured in 2009 but otherwise has been waiting his turn to take over the Hawkeyes.

“We think he’s a good football player, but sometimes you get stuck behind another good football player,” Ferentz said. “We’re all excited to see him play this year.”

At Minnesota, MarQueis Gray didn’t just signal in plays while biding his time behind Adam Weber. The junior played wide receiver for the Gophers last season, but first-year coach Jerry Kill moved the high school quarterback back under center.

"He's learned very well," Kill said. "He's a very quick learner, he doesn't make the same mistake twice and he's a tremendous athlete."

Gray was injured in his senior year of high school, so hasn’t played a full year at quarterback since 2007.

On Wednesday, first-year Indiana coach Kevin Wilson said he’s in no hurry to name a pecking order in the competition to replace Ben Chappell.

There are four quarterbacks on the roster — senior Teddy Schell, junior Adam Follett and sophomores Edward Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel — and Indiana’s Mr. Football, Tre Roberson, will join the mix.

Sophomore Jon Budmayr appears to be locked in as the replacement for Scott Tolzien at Wisconsin.

Rich Rezler covers sports for AnnArbor.com. Contact him at 734-623-2553 or richrezler@annarbor.com.