After a shaky start to his Husker career, kicker Tristan Alvano is gaining confidence.
Nebraska’s road win over Illinois felt like a needed victory for the whole roster heading into the bye week.
That was particularly true for freshman Tristan Alvano, who had seen the hard lessons of college football come quickly in his first year with the Huskers.
Alvano, who came into Friday’s matchup with Illinois 1-for-4 on the season, banged through a pair of field goals on a windy night in Champaign. He said the performance was a big one for his confidence after a tough start to the season.
“It was huge,” Alvano said after Friday’s win. “Obviously the last few games my attempts haven’t gone how I’d liked. Getting that first one through, man, I was fired up after that. It felt great.
“The most important kick is the next one. I’ve always had that kind of mentality. It’s more present now than ever. It’s not the start to the season I wanted, but I was really happy with how tonight went. It meant a lot to me and the unit for sure.”
Alvano made his first career kick, a 27-yarder at Illinois, but after that missed his next three kicks — all from more than 40 yards. Alvano said that despite the slow start, he continued to work hard with special teams coordinator Ed Foley in practices and even went outside the program to talk with former Husker kickers.
Heading into the matchup with Illinois, head coach Matt Rhule publicly expressed support for his kicker, while acknowledging that things needed to improve.
“Tristan can do it. I know he can do it,” Rhule said last week. “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 okay.’ Tristan is just going to have to get better for the rest of us.”
Alvano said a slight tweak in his technique also helped. He’s now 3-for-7 on the season and feeling more confidence.
“Talking to guys like Kris Brown and Drew Brown, guys who were former kickers here who really get it,” Alvano said. “Me and coach Foley have been really good about trying to work through things and picking one thing each day to try and improve. Obviously the mental game is huge for my position especially. That’s what I’ve been working on — just that next-kick mentality.”