Kickers lack experience
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Editor
Dan Young, the Nebraska kickers’
coach, has never encountered a situa
tion like die one he dices right now.
Of the 85 returning players who
reported to fall football practice on
Aug. 7, not one had kicked a football
m a couege game.
Only one kicker,
lesse Kosch, a
walk-on sopho
more punter from
Columbus has
been a member of
a college football
team.
Ayearago,punt
;r/place-kicker
Rot7lflff L'arm crsiau
Keizian piayed an integral
role in Nebraska’s run to the national
championship. The sophomore from
Jamestown, N.D., ranked No. 2 in the
nation with a 41.2 yard net punting
average.
In the Comhuskers’ 24-17 Orange
Bowl win over Miami, Erstad placed
six of seven punts inside the Hurri
canes’ 20-yard line.
But with the graduation of place
kicker Tom Sieler and Erstad’s selec
tion as the No. 1 pick by the California
Angels in the June baseball draft,
Young has been left high and dry.
“Usually we have somebody who
has at least been through spring ball,”
Young said.
Enter true freshmen place-lacker
Kris Brown and punter Andy Bilanzich.
Brown, from Southlake, Texas, will
have a shot at die No. 1 spot Ted
Retzlaff, a sophomore from Waverly,
backed up Sieler last year, but tore Ms
anterior cruciate ligament playing bas
ketball.
Young said Retzlaff, who reports
on Aug.21, should be ready for the
opener Aug. 31. Until then, Brown is
the only kicker in camp.
The 5-toot-10,187-pounder report
ed in good shape. During freshmen
testing, he set a position record with a
4.76-second 40-yard dash time. Brown
connected on 16 of 18 field goals as a
senior.
“Playing as a freshman is some
thing that you always dream about,”
BroWn said.
Bilazich agreed.
“I’ve been out here all summer,”
said Bilanzich, who averaged 48.5
yards per punt as a senior at Judge
Memorial Catholic High School in
Park City, Utah. “And I did that simply
for the fact that I knew there wasn’t a
lot of depth in the kicking area. And
I’ve adjusted real well.”
The adjustment from kicking in
high school to kicking in college should
be minor compared to another adjust
ment Bilanzich has made.
Bilanzich lost his left eye in a child
hood accident and will wear a fake eye
with a red iris and a wMte “N” in the
middle of it during games.
Although not as difficult as adjust
ing to seeing with one eye, Bilanzich
said kicking in front of a sellout Me
morial Stadium crowd would be for
midable.
Bilanzich and Brown, along with
the rest of the freshmen, met with team
psychologist Jack Stark in order to
prepare for die mental struggles of
playing in front of 75,000 fans.
“I played in the high school state
championship in front of 7,000 peo
ple,” said Bilanzich. “That was a huge
deal. I can’t even imagine playing in
front of 76,000 people. But they will
do everything they can to work with us
about that.”
Brown said he had dealt with pres
sure before, but he said experience in
college football was the only cure for
freshmen nerves.
By die end of the month, Young
said, Brown and Bilanzich should be
ready.
“Kicking isn’t anything you need to
do team-wise,” Young said. “It’s just
performing a skill. It’s a skill they can
work on in the summer. It’s a skill they
have worked on for many years.”
And the young duo will count on
each other for support.
“We can understand each other and
know what each other is going
through,” Brown said, “whereas if you
had a freshman punter and a senior
kicker, they wouldn’t really relate to
each other.”
Bilanzich nodded his head.
“After our four years,” he said,
“we’ll be like brothers.”
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