Culp, Przystup named starting specialists for Week 1
Nebraska chose not to release an official depth chart leading up to its 2020 season opener at Ohio State this week. But two of the few remaining unknowns were finally cleared up following Thursday’s practice.
Head coach Scott Frost announced that former LSU transfer Connor Culp would be the Huskers’ starting placekicker, and former Michigan State transfer William Przystup would be the No. 1 punter for Week 1.
Frost said Culp, who joined NU as a grad transfer this spring after four years with the Tigers, had “done a really good job” this fall to win the job ultimately.
Przystup played in eight games last season while handling kickoff duties for part of the year. He got the nod in part due to an injury to Australian freshman punter Daniel Cerni during fall camp, which Frost also confirmed on Thursday.
“Cerni had a setback,” Frost said. “He got injured. “Nothing season-ending or serious, but he won’t be available to us Week 1.”
A former U.S. Army All-American, Culp started as a redshirt freshman in 2017 but ended up the odd man out at LSU when he lost his job to Groza Award finalist Cole Tracy in 2018 and then SEC record-setter Cade York in 2019.
In his one season as a starter for the Tigers, Culp finished 11-for-16 on field goals and 20-of-23 on extra points. He hit a game-winner to beat Auburn and had a stretch that season where he connected on eight straight kicks in conference games.
He tied a school-record in 2017 by making four field goals against Ole Miss, including his career-long of 47-yards.
Przystup has yet to punt at Nebraska, but he kicked off 34 times last season with 11 touchbacks and two tackles.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound left-footer averaged 40.6 yards on 27 punts over four games in 2018 as a true freshman at Michigan State. He was the Spartans’ starting punter against Nebraska in Lincoln that season, punting seven times for an average of 42.0 yards per attempt.
The Oviedo, Fla., native was rated a five-star prospect out of high school by Kohl’s Kicking and ranked 20th in Kornblue Kickin’s Fab50 as a senior.
Nebraska’s special teams were a disaster from start to finish last season, but Frost is hoping Culp and Przystup will provide upgrades in both areas of the kicking game.
“It’s better,” Frost said. “It had to get better.”