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Huskers still trying to make due at kicker

It wasn’t until William Przystup made his way to the sixth floor of Memorial Stadium on Monday for his first media interview as a Husker when he learned of his new, unexpected promotion.

Nebraska had just released its depth chart for this week’s game against Northern Illinois, and the redshirt freshman punter who transferred from Michigan State was listed as the No. 2 placekicker.

That was news to Przystup, who hadn’t kicked a meaningful field goal since high school.

“Is that what it says?” Przystup asked a group of reporters. “Well, that’s good to know. I’ll have to talk to coach about it to be sure but, if so, then I need to practice a little bit more and get a little bit more work in and probably cut down on eating so much.”

Senior punter Isaac Armstrong made his college debut at kicker at Colorado, and it looks like he will be called upon against this week vs. Northern Illinois.
Senior punter Isaac Armstrong made his college debut at kicker at Colorado, and it looks like he will be called upon against this week vs. Northern Illinois. (Associated Press)

The lineup change was a perfect example of where the Huskers’ kicker situation is at the moment, as sophomore Barret Pickering has missed the first two games with an undisclosed injury and was removed from this week’s depth chart entirely.

Pickering didn’t practice on Monday or Tuesday, and it’s unclear when he’ll finally be ready to return.

Special teams coordinator Jovan Dewitt said Pickering had been getting some light work in the past two weeks under a “kick count” but was still not participating in any full-team drills.

“This is the craziest thing,” Dewitt said of Pickering’s injury situation. “I’ve never seen this before… It’s just one of those situations that you almost feel snake bit to a certain degree. When it rains, it pours sometimes, but it is what it is, and we just push on through it.”

Assuming Pickering remains out on Saturday, Nebraska will likely again turn to senior punter Isaac Armstrong to handle the starting placekicker duties vs. Northern Illinois.

Though his missed 48-yarder in overtime technically sealed the defeat at Colorado, NU’s staff made it clear to Armstrong that he was not the reason they lost the game. Before the overtime miss, the walk-on from Lincoln made all four of his extra points and his first career field goal attempt from 26 yards out in the second quarter.

Armstrong also averaged 46.2 yards on five punts in the game, pinning two inside the Buffalo 20-yard line.

Armstrong said it wasn’t until Thursday of last week when he learned he'd be the starting kicker and first started working with NU’s full field goal unit in practice, so he made his debut in Boulder with hardly any preparation.

“Once the game got going it wasn’t a whole lot different, because I’m used to being the holder so I’m used to being on the field in that situation,” Armstrong said. “Once the flow of the game got going it wasn’t much different than normal.”

Even though his coaches and teammates stressed that the loss wasn’t on his shoulders, Armstrong couldn’t help but feel to blame for not keeping the game alive in OT. But with another opportunity to prove himself potentially awaiting this week, Armstrong won’t be able to dwell on the miss very long.

“I think he was crushed,” Dewitt said. “I think anyone in that situation who’s competitive was really upset by it. But we went over to him made sure to tell him, you know, that’s a tough deal. The thing that I like about Isaac is that he doesn’t sit there and complain about it.

“He went out there with no fear of failure, and whether it went through or not, he gave it his best shot. That’s what we ask anybody to do at any given spot, is desire to excel and no fear of failure. So I think he embraces that, and he would relish a chance to do it again."

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