It’s certainly not a new thing that the Nebraska football team is dealing with some real question marks on special teams. For whatever reason, that particular side of the football has been a sore spot for the Cornhuskers for years. Well before Matt Rhule got to Lincoln. But that’s no excuse.
In fact, that Rhule and his hand picked special teams coordinator haven’t been able to put a unit on the field that has been better than what we’ve seen the last two years is part of the problem. But you can’t claim they aren’t trying.
On Monday, Rhule divulged that he’d hired former Nebraska football kicker Brett Maher to help the special teams unit. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this isn’t a new move. Maher has been with the team since the start of fall camp. And yet, the special teams has been far from great.
On Friday night, starting kicker Tristan Alvano was unavailable and while his backup John Hohl did his a short field goal against Illinois, he missed a 39-yard kick which would have eventually been the game winner.
Matt Rhule said he's hired former #Huskers and NFL kicker Brett Maher. He's working with the kickers and in team meetings.
— Steve Marik (@Steve_Marik) September 23, 2024
Nebraska football enlists more help for special teams
Even if Alvano was healthy, there was no guarantee he would have made that kick. The Nebraska-native has had his own struggles since taking over the starting job as a true freshman.
The special teams units haven’t only been plagued by insistent field goal kicking. Punter Brian Buschini struggled at times in 2023. While there are some indications that he’s having a better time of it, he did seemingly make a mistake on a booming punt against Illinois.
Buschini looked as though he’d punted to the wrong side of the field, allowing for the Illini to have a nice return and go from having the ball inside their own 20 to almost midfield.
Kick coverage has also been a concern both last year and this. All of this goes to show that the Nebraska football team knows there are problems. Rhule is attempting to fix them with hires like Brett Maher. But none of the fixes have been overnight.