Nebraska could use two different kickers in season opener

Who will be Nebraska’s kicker on Saturday? It might depend on how far away they are from the uprights.

The Huskers are likely to use both sophomore Tristan Alvano and redshirt freshman John Hohl, coach Matt Rhule said Thursday. Alvano — the incumbent — could work from shorter distances as he returns to full health from a groin injury while Hohl will operate from farther out.

“I think you could see both those guys kick and I think you’ll see John kick off,” Rhule said.

Alvano connected on 9 of 15 field-goal attempts as a true freshman last year and all 27 of his extra-point tries. Hohl is much less of a known commodity — at least publicly — after arriving in Lincoln following a redshirt season at Iowa Western. The Lincoln Southwest graduate was 3 for 3 on field goals as a prep senior and didn’t miss any of his 18 PATs.

Also on the injury front, No. 2 right tackle Gunnar Gottula will be out for the opener against UTEP. No. 2 left guard Henry Lutovsky and cornerback Blye Hill will both be available.

Former LSU tight end Mac Markaway will be eligible to play this season after joining Nebraska this week. The previous four-star prospect and current sophomore went through the entire admissions process on his own and took a standard student campus tour. Rhule said getting Markway up to speed won’t be unlike the NFL rhythm of quickly onboarding players who arrive during the season.

“I was shocked,” Rhule said. “It’s an unbelievable surprise.”

Rhule said he was unaware of any previous ties Markway has with Nebraska or its staffers.

“Maybe I’m arrogantly thinking because we’re going to be a good team and we use tight ends,” Rhule said. “I think a lot of recruits have been excited since Dylan (Raiola) signed and Danny (Kaelin) signed, like, ‘Hey the quarterback room here is going to be really strong for a while.’ But it wasn’t like we actively even recruited Mac.”

Watch special teams Saturday for which team may steal a possession with a fake kick or block. Rhule doesn’t want kickoffs to fly through the end zone for touchbacks either — “I want to make other teams run the ball against us,” he said.

Oh, and openers might be the best time for Nebraska to be sound in guarding its specialists from would-be disrupters.

“If you put (on film) early in the year that you can’t protect field goals and punts, then people are coming after you all year,” Rhule said. “So the best thing you can do if you’re on punt team or field-goal team is to block your tail off early in the year so people say, ‘Alright, I’m not going after them.’ If you’re the fish and they circle your name on the depth chart going forward, it stinks.”