Husker special teams coordinator Ed Foley was the man of the hour on ‘Sports Nightly’ on Tuesday night.
If the Huskers are going to win Big Ten games on the road like this upcoming one at Illinois on Friday, Nebraska will likely need its special teams to own its phase of the game.
And maybe that includes knocking home a clutch kick.
«Tristan’s our kicker right now and obviously he’s struggling a little bit,» Husker special teams coordinator Ed Foley said on the Sports Nightly radio show Tuesday. «We’re just going to bring him along.»
True freshman Tristan Alvano is 1-of-4 on field goals so far this season, with all three of the misses coming in the 40-to-49 yard range. He’s certainly no stranger to making big kicks from his Omaha Westside days as he looks to find his groove now in a Husker uniform.
Foley was asked by a fan during the show if returning kicker Timmy Bleekrode was also still in the picture as an option.
«Those two are working together really well. Timmy is such a great kid. He’s working to try to help Tristan out. … Obviously he’s not making the kicks that he needs to make in the game but he’s working and he’s trying to do everything he can do to get himself on track. But hey, at the end of the day you have to make the kicks. So never say never. Timmy works every day in practice and we’ll keep letting them work and compete. Every day is a competition.»
Alvano missed a 40-yarder against Michigan early in the third quarter.
«The wind was in his face but the wind was kicking both directions throughout the game…» Foley said. «He’s got to leave the ball inside the pipes and not try to do too much with the wind there. He tried to be a little too fancy with it and try to bring it in through that right upright and it just didn’t come around. He’s got to understand that we’re just trying to put the ball down the middle and we don’t have to be too specific or too fine with it. Just go in there and blast it through.»
Husker head coach Matt Rhule said during Monday’s press conference that Alvano is very much like the rest of the squad right now – from coaches to players.
«I’ve got to be better, the O-line has to be better, the D-line has to be better. Tristan has to be better,» Rhule said. «Tristan can kick better than he’s kicking right now. He’s got to get it corrected. …It’s not for a lack of effort, not for a lack of trying. When I go to the game, I’m going to trust our guys to make the plays that I think they can make. … We went for it on fourth and one and it didn’t work out for us, right? Tristan can do it. I know he can do it.
«He’s a young player. Sometimes I would have loved to have brought him on a little later, but he’s going through the fire right now. The good news is, I think he’s recognizing – we talk about that fear and confidence – ‘I’m missing some kicks I want to make, I’m still here, I’m still making it, I’ll be OK.’»
Foley said Alvano and Brian Buschini are almost identical statistically in handling kickoffs.
Buschini’s kicks have a lower trajectory ball – perhaps better into the wind. Alvano has the ability to get some hang time on his kickoff attempts.
«I like using them both because it keeps them both in the game,» said Foley, but added it will also still be a feel thing and that the Huskers would stick to one guy if someone is clearly separating himself.
Nebraska did try an onside kick with Buschini late Saturday.
«The timing of it wasn’t good. Some of it was on me and the way I’ve coached it versus what they’ve brought to the table…» Foley said. «But the ball gets up there, we need some guys to get up in there and make a pile of that thing and make it right and dive in there.»
Foley said that kind of fit the theme of the game of ‘I wonder what’s going to happen with this’ being too much of Nebraska’s way of operating.
«So I would’ve liked us to be a little bit more aggressive in the attack … but we’ll have a better plan moving forward.»