Plagued by one-score losses, Nebraska football finds itself with more questions at kicker I GBR

questions at kicker emerge already in Fall camp for Nebraska boy Tristan alvano not on the 120 as he's recovering from surgery on his growing and now you know what we don't know is when he'll be back but I've talked to a lot of people there doesn't seem to be internally as much of a concern as there might be externally and I think we are kind of battered veterans here because since 2018 what's Nebraska done they've lost a lot of ones score games Miss field goals and inconsistencies in the kicking game have been a big reason why and here we go in a big year where Nebraska has a chance to break through as a program um you know there's questions at a position that could be a big factor this year yeah there there and it's okay to frame it up that way because it's it's okay to frame it up that way because of the just the timing today is August 2nd or August 1st we found out on July 30 or July 31st whatever it was you know we found out a month before it's a month before the opener and as you point out Sean alvano is not part of the 120 now that alone that alone says what keep an eye on this yeah it's not it's not something I would say you panic over but I wouldn't be that far from that if I was a Nebraska fan it it would would help me if they had a kicker on the roster who was kicked in a division one game um which they don't Nico ottomanelli from true freshman highly highly I mean regarded and then John Hull who kicked for Iowa Western did he kick for Iowa Western did he get in a game I don't know oh he didn't get in a game I don't think he did so it's high school but he was gonna start for the reavers this year right and he can kick don't get me wrong Sean they're not gonna now you wouldn't think a school like Nebraska would bring a kid in who can't kick field well he got offer a full ride to Coastal Carolina and that's there's no doubt that if we walked over to the field today and watched them kick we'd say oh they can kick the question is again if the game against UTEP they need a field goal to win it from 42 yards with 7 seconds left can he kick that that's what I that come on you walk over there and Autumn andell is going to wow you with probably right I don't care about that of course they can kick their division one Kickers but can they do it with pressure on them and we've been there done that and lived through 2019 when um Barrett Pickering injured himself golfing he took up the sport of golf in the summer and basically suffered an injury that he couldn't get over and so they lost him you are artistic and bringing up things that make my stomach hurt that was a horrible thing they go into overtime in Colorado they blew a 17 nothing lead and that's a whole another discussion and then it then it becomes kind of a kicking competition at that point yeah they have Isaac Armstrong who was a punter having to kick right long you know it was like a 40 some yard field going overtime and he didn't even come close you know then they they have Lane McCullum have to make a field goal to beat Northwestern in an ugly game that Nebraska easily could have won by more and Lane McCollum had a bad leg he barely got the ball off the ground right he did and then they had to go to Leadbelly right and find a waiter to kick for him that year I mean we that's what you fear then they had another guy that they brought on that his dad was the labor and delivery doctor for one of the coaches and this kid kicked and they brought him on the roster I don't even remember his name I understand but like that that was picture that was a nightmare yeah now I'm not and you you're not and I'm not suggesting we have that kind of thing on our hands maybe alvano will be fine I'd feel more comfortable if he as part of the 120 man roster he can kick field goals right now according to Ed Foy but he can't kick off so it's not like there's nothing here I mean he can't if they if he if they needed him to kick off the ball today he couldn't do it so yeah that's a concern he's rule said that he's he's recovered but not full go so I don't know what that means exactly um so he's not fully recovered well to put him on the 120 you know somebody else has to be hurt to like add a new player now Sean here's a question for you you're a veteran I am too you seem to know this kind of stuff better than I do can you sort of invent an injury yeah soft tissues yeah I mean there's going to be guys that inevitably have hammies and ankles and and whatnot you could use that you can't just remove guy for no reason like it has to be a replacement for an injury and the other part of alvano is he was he now he was inconsistent last year but came on I mean he came on and finished the year well so you thought okay problem solved largely and then the spring game happened in the spring game he missed two two field goals that were makeable and that you just didn't know what to think they were bad mes thank you Sean um they were bad Miss I mean it looked at like me swinging at Top Golf on Saturday night I was what' that look like how would you just character the beauty about Top Golf is you can have a driver out and not hit it right and and still score points you can't do that in a college football like like you could take a 250 yard drive and hit it 50 yards and hit still get points at top gol you can't you can't do that in a division one football game no so I just reiterate of course J John Hull and Nico can kick the ball I mean they're going to impress you if you walk over there on August 15 but the it's just we come on I mean you Sean you've covered these games for 25 years it's the pressure can be intense well now even more so because in the big eight and the Big 12 Nebraska was a major favorite every week where the field goals were just kind of entertainment I mean it wasn't like I mean it wasn't like live or die like you're right you have to really cover the kick pretty much liver die every time now but now like when the point spread is three to seven points every week for every game other than Ohio State it's great point I mean every game you play outside of Colorado or outside of utap and Northern Iowa and and Ohio State we'll say Ohio State's gonna be a bigger spread you're gonna have nine games where the point spread is probably gonna be three to seven points great point it is you're right we covered Nebraska for a long time where field goals you go get your popcorn at that time they would just have I mean they had the era of the really good kickers though like with Chris Brown Josh Brown Alex Henry ma but there was times where Mah I mean you have random guys I mean like David Dykes and Sandro D'Angelo dyes wasn't bad from 35 in right Jordan conden oh I was thinking of conden that's who I was thinking I mixed up Dykes and conden Conan was a good kicker just didn't have a long leg I mean so but you're right you're right a Sean it's a great discussion