LINCOLN — At least one Nebraska football player gets clearance to slow his pace at practice in hopes that the Huskers play deep into December this season and a final game in January.
NU coaches, in fact, encourage Adi Kunalic to keep his right leg fresh. They don't need to see it every day. It's well known that he can handle the rigors and technical aspect of kickoffs, his primary assignment.
“The best thing I can do right now is stay healthy,” he said. “And as I've gotten older, I've started to learn how to pace myself.”
Kunalic, a senior from Fort Worth, Texas, has booted 86 touchbacks in 225 career kickoffs, a 38.2 percent clip. He matched a career high with 29 touchbacks to rank third nationally last year and help Nebraska finish 15th in kickoff coverage.
But Kunalic lost some power late, producing just one touchback on his final 11 kickoffs against Texas and Arizona. Notably in those last two games, he mishit his final kick against the Longhorns, sending a kickoff out of bounds at the 9-yard line with 1:44 to play after the Huskers grabbed a 12-10 lead.
With the ball placed at the 40-yard line, Texas completed one pass and benefited from an NU penalty to get in range for Hunter Lawrence's game-winning field goal in the Big 12 championship game.
It marked Kunalic's first out-of-bounds kick in 70 opportunities last season and just his second in 217 career kickoffs.
“I knew where we were at in the game,” he said. “And in my head, I was kicking that ball through the uprights. I wanted that ball to be out of the end zone so bad that I just tried to hit it too hard. I must have overstepped, and that's what happens.”
Nevertheless, he remains a weapon. Nebraska owned a 7.1-yard advantage over its foes a year ago. Kunalic credits the coverage team, nearly all of which returns this year.
He said he refused to dwell on the mistake against Texas.
“You've got to get past it and move on to the next thing,” he said. “Learn from it. Learn when you relax, when you're going to do much better. The more you think about it, the more it's going to mess with you.”
Though Kunalic tries only a few kickoffs each day, he works to improve the height on his kickoffs and to better his mental game.
And according to coach Bo Pelini, Kunalic is “killing his kickoffs.”
He also practices alongside classmate Alex Henery, the most accurate place-kicker in school history.
Kunalic, recruited in 2006 for his big leg, has attempted just one field goal in his career — a 46-yard conversion against Nevada three years ago as a true freshman.
Pelini said he's seen more consistency from Kunalic this month as a place-kicker. No one is about to replace Henery, who's made 50 of 57 field-goal attempts over three years and needs 100 points to break Nebraska's all-time scoring record.
But might Kunalic get a shot at place-kicking if the right opportunity arises?
“You never know how that's going to play out,” Pelini said. “We're not afraid to put him in the game, I'll tell you that much.”
Kunalic actually considered taking a redshirt this fall to play a final season in 2011 with more responsibility. Pelini ended speculation over such a possibility on the first day of preseason camp.
Kunalic is fine with the decision.
“That's me,” he said. “I'm just trying to win games.”
Contact the writer:
402-444-1031, mitch.sherman@owh.com
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