Football: Overstreet adjusts after injuries

Adolph Overstreet is a big-play threat as UNO’s primary return man for both kickoffs and punts.

But as a wide receiver, the junior college transfer from Upland, Calif., has been more Wes Welker than Randy Moss. He’s more likely to get a catch on a comeback route than a deep post.

“With the injuries I’ve had, it kind of made me a possession receiver,” Overstreet said. “The injuries have held me back from what I’m accustomed to doing.”

But as the Mavericks (6-4, 5-3 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) prepare for their regular-season finale, Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. game at No. 21 Missouri Western, Overstreet said he’s as close to fully healthy as he’s been all season.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder dealt with a staph infection and missed nearly three weeks with a knee sprain before fall camp was even over. He sprained an ankle the week of UNO’s second game at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, then strained a rotator cuff in the fourth game at Northwest Missouri State.

“It’s been hard every week, knowing I was going to play hurt,” Overstreet said. “I just had to play through it.”

While Overstreet is third on the team in receptions (25) and receiving yards (293), his average of 11.7 yards per catch masks his big-play ability.

He doesn’t have a receiving touchdown, yet he averages 27.3 yards on kickoff returns and 12.2 on punt returns — third in the MIAA in both categories.

“We’re very pleased with what he’s done as a return man,” UNO coach Pat Behrns said. “And we’re probably getting as much mileage out of him as we can on offense as a first-year guy learning the offense and overcoming injury.”

Overstreet said his transition to UNO was made easier because the Mavs use the same offensive terminology as that of Citrus (Calif.) College, where he played in 2006 and 2008 (he redshirted in 2007).

Overstreet caught 40 passes for 632 yards (a 15.8 average) and five touchdowns last season, then followed former Citrus teammates Paul Clark (a backup safety) and Anthony Sutton (who started at cornerback last year) to UNO.

Omaha is a different lifestyle for Overstreet, a Los Angeles-area product who grew up in dangerous Watts before moving to Upland in junior high.

“(Watts is) the center of gang violence and drugs,” Overstreet said. “Football got me out of that. It helped me keep my head on straight and focused on school.”

Overstreet said his family moved to Upland — which he compares to west Omaha — shortly after a junior high incident.

“Some friends and I were coming home from practice and a car pulled up,” he said. “They robbed us, and one of my friends got (non-fatally) stabbed.

“A couple of my friends had moved out there (to Upland), and my dad made the change pretty much for me. They had a turf field, which was new, and football was everything there.”

Overstreet said his experience at Upland helped shape his college career.

At UNO, tight end Mike Higgins leads the Mavs with 41 receptions for 744 yards and nine TDs, and wide receiver Brian Miller is next with 40 for 644 and three scores. But Overstreet took on an expanded role early in last Saturday’s win over Pittsburg State. His four catches (for 42 yards) represented his second-highest total of the season.

“I’m pretty satisfied with the way they’re using me on offense,” Overstreet said. “They’ve put in some plays to utilize my versatility. I’m not the headline guy, but I’m OK with blocking, freeing everyone else. I’m more of a decoy, but if they miss a coverage, I get the ball.

“We saw a weakness in the corner playing against me last week, knowing they were going to double Higgs and Brian Miller. So we attacked.”

Overstreet said he’s also looking forward to going head-to-head, in a way, with Missouri Western return man Cedric Houston, who is second in the MIAA in punt returns (19.2 average) and eighth in kickoff returns (22.2). Houston is second in the MIAA in all-purpose yards (138.7 per game) and — with 49 catches for 790 yards and 13 touchdowns — ranks third in average receptions and fourth in both average receiving yards and total touchdowns (14).

The last time UNO played a return man of that stature — Fort Hays State’s C.J. Lovett three weeks ago — Overstreet had a 56-yard punt return touchdown and averaged 36.8 yards on four kickoff returns.

“I’ve been watching him on film, seeing the things that he does,” Overstreet said of Houston. “I like the way he attacks, his aggression.”

Contact the writer:

444-1027, rob.white@owh.com