Nebraska’s special teams room got better this week with the addition of Australian punter Daniel Cerni, and it appears first-year special teams analyst Jonathan Rutledge is not done improving the overall roster.
Former LSU starting kicker Connor Culp told HuskerOnline he plans to join the team as a walk-on for the 2020 season to pursue his graduate degree at NU. He will arrive in Lincoln by late June or early July.
Culp will be one of five new kickers NU has added to their roster this off-season, joining high schoolers Ryan Novosel (Winnetka, Ill.), Tyler Crawford (Broken Arrow, Okla.) and Sami Khawja (Bradenton, Fla.), along with Iowa Western Community College midyear enrollee Chase Contrerez.
"Coach (Jonathan) Rutledge knows I can help out in the kicking game and I have always heard about Nebraska and wanted to be part of that family," Culp told HuskerOnline on Friday.
The former 2016 U.S. Amy All-American started for the Tigers in 2017 as a redshirt freshman, but sat behind Lou Groza finalist Cole Tracy in 2018, and was beat out by freshman standout Cade York in 2019. York went on to score more points (146) than any kicker in SEC history in 2019.
As a true freshman in 2016, Culp redshirted behind Cody Delahoussaye at LSU, who was the lone survivor of the car accident that took the lives of former Husker punter Sam Foltz and former Michigan State punter Mike Sadler.
In his one season as a starter in 2017, 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.
As a redshirt freshman at LSU in 2017, his kickoff hangtime was 3.95 seconds. Nebraska’s best kicker in 2019 averaged 3.65 seconds, which was 12th out of 14 in the conference. The worst Big Ten hangtime average was 3.62 seconds and the top mark was 4.20 seconds by Wisconsin’s Zach Hintze according to PFF. Culp’s freshman mark would’ve put him in the top third of the Big Ten in that category, as a .3 second improvement makes a big difference in helping your coverage team get down the field.
In high school Culp’s career-long was 51-yards, and he put 53-of-60 kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks. He’s originally from Phoenix (Ariz.) Desert Vista High School.
Culp apparently just wants a shot. When Tracy came into LSU in 2018 the job was pretty much handed to him, and a similar situation happened in 2019 with the arrival of York.
Here’s are a few highlights of Culp from high school:
