Lincoln, Neb. ? Hired to shore up Nebraska’s woeful defense, coach Bo Pelini says one of the most pleasant developments of his first season has been that of the offense.

“They’re more in sync, they’re growing more comfortable together, and I think we’re in a good rhythm now,” Pelini said Monday. “Hopefully we can keep that together and keep that going, because we need to against a tremendous Oklahoma football team we’re playing.”

Though the Huskers rank in the middle of the pack offensively in the freewheeling Big 12, they’re still among the most productive teams in the country at just under 300 yards passing and 450 total yards a game.

The short and intermediate passing game has been a good fit for Joe Ganz, who goes into Saturday’s game at fourth-ranked Oklahoma having thrown for 300 or more yards in seven of 11 career starts.

Using nearly a 50-50 mix of run and pass, Nebraska has generated 1,516 yards the past three weeks against Baylor, Iowa State and Texas Tech.

“We’re doing some really cool things that we’re excited about as a staff,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “We’re sitting here with 500 yards of offense (against Baylor), and we know we could be better. We left some points on the field. We made some mistakes. The beautiful thing about this is we’re getting better and better.”

The re-emergence of I-back Marlon Lucky has been a key. The senior is providing spark as a runner and receiver after starting the season in a funk.

He followed up a 74-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance against Iowa State with 165 yards (83 rushing, 82 receiving) and a touchdown in last week’s 32-20 win over Baylor. One of his receptions against Baylor went for 69 yards, Nebraska’s longest play from scrimmage this season.

“He’s turned it up a notch,” Pelini said. “He’s carried on what he did last week. He’s been very decisive in picking his holes and getting up the field, and he’s playing physical.”

Nate Swift, who set the Nebraska career record for receptions last week, and Todd Peterson have combined for 84 catches for 1,061 yards and eight touchdowns. Menelik Holt and tight end Mike McNeill also have become dependable options for Ganz.

“People talk how we’ve improved on defense,” Pelini said. “That’s happening some. But it’s happening because our offense is improving, too. They’ve used a lot of clock. We’re winning time of possession and limiting people’s shots on us.”

Nebraska has run 241 offensive plays to the opposition’s 155 over the last three games.

In this season of high offensive production around the league, the Huskers’ defensive statistics aren’t overwhelming. They’re giving up 359 yards a game, which ranks fifth in the Big 12 but first in the North. They’re second to Colorado in pass defense (221 ypg).

Picked to finish third in the North, the Huskers (5-3) go into the Oklahoma game tied with Kansas and Missouri for first place in the division at 2-2.

“I don’t worry about where we are right now,” Pelini said. “Hopefully we can say four or five weeks from now that we’re better than we are now. We can say that from the beginning of the year until now. You’re especially seeing it on the offensive side of the ball.”