LINCOLN — Niles Paul fielded his first kickoff against Western Michigan last season and saw what he believed to be a lane to some open field and certain appreciation from a juiced-up Memorial Stadium crowd.

Next thing he knew, Paul was picking himself up at the 25-yard line, the Nebraska offense was coming out and a crowd of 84,485 couldn't have been more quiet.

“The hole just closed up real quick,'' Paul said, remembering the moment and shaking his head. “I was like, ‘Wow.' I was trying to be patient. In high school, I could be patient, and then outrun everybody. This was a little different.''

Paul returned 40 more kickoffs, including an 85-yarder for a touchdown, and finished his sophomore season with a decent 23.6-yard average. Alfonzo Dennard and Curenski Gilleylen also got a few opportunities as freshmen.

But the lessons and progression pretty much came on the run for three underclassmen trying to gauge the speed and violence of kickoff coverage in Division I football — and the fine line that goes with hitting a hole when it develops but also maybe waiting a split second for it to appear.

“When you're in high school, you can just run and everything will open up for you,'' Gilleylen said. “But you have to definitely hit the holes where Coach wants the holes hit. You have to set up blocks. But you have to pick up your speed and it's not like you can be too patient.''

Nebraska ranked No. 9 in the Big 12 and No. 48 nationally last season at 21.8 yards per kick return. NU assistant coach Tim Beck, however, said he believes the Huskers were close to being better and said he likes the kickoff returners he oversees.

“I thought those guys did a good job,'' Beck said. “Most of the times there were seams and alleys, we just missed some holes and missed some blocks.''

Nebraska started working on kickoff returns this week with Paul, Gilleylen and Dennard again in the mix. Showing it isn't afraid to go young again, NU also is trying redshirt freshman Tim Marlowe and true freshman Rex Burkhead.

Paul said he expects to be advanced from where he was in 2008, mostly because of the experience.

“I missed a couple holes and a couple holes closed up by the time I hit them,'' Paul said. “We had a lot of missed opportunities on kick returns.

“But I felt like I was getting better and better as the year progressed. I started out inexperienced. It's a different level of speed out there. I feel like this year I know what to expect now.''

Same goes for Dennard, who said his biggest mistake last season was traveling east-west instead of north-south on at least one return. Beck let him know about it after the crazy trip against San Jose State netted him just 9 yards of official progress.

“I went left and there was nothing left, so I tried to cut back across the field,'' Dennard said. “By the time I knew it, more people were gaining on me so I went down. In high school, I probably would have been able to make something happen.''

Beck said there is no golden number Nebraska will be seeking for a kick return average. It's sometimes a misleading statistic because teams might pooch kick or dribble some downfield. It's more about starting position, and Beck said NU routinely would like that beyond the 30-yard line.

Paul, Dennard, Marlowe and Burkhead also are being evaluated as punt returners, along with freshman Antonio Bell. The Huskers ranked second in the Big 12 in that category at 12.1 per return, but no longer have Nate Swift.

NU hasn't averaged better than 22.0 yards on kickoff returns since 2003 (24.3), but Gilleylen said numbers aren't important right now. It's more about the attitude that assistant coach John Papuchis is trying to instill with everything from kick returns to coverage.

“We definitely want to be with the top in the nation in anything with special teams,'' Gilleylen said. “Coach JP is amazing. He's passionate about special teams and he wants us to put as much effort and dedication into special teams as he does.''

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

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