Nebraska position review: Specialists

While the new year has begun, HuskerOnline is looking back at the previous season and taking a deep dive into each of Nebraska’s positions, how they graded, their trends and other observations.

To wrap up the series is a two-part breakdown of Nebraska’s special teams. This section (part one) will take a look at specialists such as placekickers, punters and longsnappers. Part two will dive into special teams’ coverage and kick/punt returners.

Series: QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DL | LB | DB |

Placekicking woes:

Connor Culp ranked last in the Power Five and last in the FBS with a 44.3 field goal grade for players with over six field goal attempts. Culp went from the 2020 Big Ten Kicker of the Year to the worst kicker in FBS.

Iowa Western transfer Chase Contreraz took over for Culp for the last four games of the season. Contreraz was No. 136 out of the 183 kickers who attempted a field goal in the FBS. Contreraz missed a 31-yard field goal and a 45-yarder against Ohio State.

Culp has moved on after playing his fifth and sixth seasons of college football at Nebraska. The Huskers added Furman transfer kicker Timmy Bleekrode, their first scholarship offer to a kicker in the recruiting process since the class of 2018.

Charlie Weinrich, one of the top placekickers in the 2022 recruiting class, will add depth as a walk on at Nebraska.

Bottom line is, based on these numbers, Nebraska desperately needs a reliable kicker but is clearly putting in the work to get one.

Kickoff improvement:

Nebraska’s kickoff specialist much improved from the 2020 season when Culp handled the duty. Culp scored a 66.6 grade in 2020 and averaged 57.9 yards per attempt. Brendan Franke, the Huskers 2021 kickoff specialist, averaged 67.9 yards per attempt, 10 yards more than Culp.

Franke, a transfer from Morningside College that went to Gretna High School, kicked 38 touchbacks with five fair catches on 58 attempts. Orr, Neb. native Kelen Meyer attempted four kickoffs and averaged 71 yards per kick with four touchbacks.

Franke and Nebraska’s special teams allowed Wisconsin’s Stephan Bracey to return the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, providing a crushing blow to the beginning of a one-score loss.

While the Huskers’ kickoff specialist has vastly improved from season to season there is still work to be done.

Cameron Pieper, a Lincoln Southwest product, was Nebraska’s longsnapper for field goals and Cade Mueller, a Gretna alumni, snapped for punts. Mueller was injured during the Ohio State game and Pieper played both positions for the remainder of that game and the last two games of the season.

Pieper’s 71 special teams grade is the fifth highest in the Big Ten and ranked No. 34 in FBS. Mueller’s 58.4 grade ranks him No. 13 in the Big Ten out of the 19 longsnappers. Pieper’s grade improved four points from 2020 but Mueller’s decreased 11 points.

One can’t help but wonder if either player’s snaps impacted the performance of the punters, unfortunately, there isn’t a grade/stat for that.

The Huskers added Georgetown transfer Brady Weas to the longsnapper group in their off-season specialist overhaul.

Cost games:

Nebraska’s punters cost the Huskers 14 points directly in 2021 and more points due to massive momentum and morale swings.

Michigan State returned one of Daniel Cerni’s punts for a 62-yard touchdown to tie the game late in the fourth quarter sending it to overtime where Nebraska lost by three. After the game, Husker coaches said Cerni kicked the ball to the wrong side of the field where the coverage team wasn’t prepared.

William Przystup also had a game-changing punt returned for a touchdown against Iowa. The Hawkeyes blocked the punt, Kyler Fisher caught the deflected ball and ran it in for a 14-yard touchdown. This play deflated the Huskers on all three levels and they lost to Iowa in another one-score game.

Nebraska needs desperate help with punting. Przystup entered the transfer portal in the off-season and NU added FCS Punter of the Year Brian Buschini who transferred from Montana to attempt to stop the damage.

National rankings:

Przystup, who averaged 43.5 yards per punt, ranked No. 36 in the Power Five in the 2021 season. Cerni’s average of 36.9 yards per punt on his 16 attempts is last in the Power Five (No. 69) and No. 136 out of the 138 FBS punters.

As for their punting grades, Przystup’s was No. 40 in the Power Five and Cerni’s came in at No. 55.

The highlight of Przystup’s season was when he bombed an 84-yard punt against Northwestern, the third-longest punt in the FBS. He sits behind San Diego State’s Matt Araiza (86-yarder) and Oklahoma’s Michael Turk (85-yarder).

Along with the addition of Buschini and new special teams coordinator Bill Busch, the Huskers are hoping to use their special teams to win them games, not lose them in 2022.