Nebraska worked out several kickers last week, and a couple appear to be on the radar.
Iowa Western Community College kicker Josh Jasek said via Twitter on Tuesday afternoon that he is transferring to Nebraska. However, he later deleted the tweet and removed a reference to Nebraska from his social media profile.Â
A message with Jasek was not immediately returned.Â
Jasek, an Iowa City, Iowa, native who graduated from Iowa City West High, made 11 of 17 field-goal attempts in IWCC's shortened 2020 season and knocked in a season-long 56-yarder in the Reivers' season finale against Ellsworth CC.Â
Jasek (6-foot-1 and 175 pounds) converted on 41 of 44 extra points over IWCC's eight-game season.Â
Jasek was at IWCC for just one year, meaning he could transfer and have all of his eligibility remaining.Â
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— Josh Jasek (@jasek023)
Nebraska, of course, has senior Connor Culp, the Big Ten's 2020 kicker of the year, returning for a final season this fall. However, the duties are wide open for beyond 2021, and more immediately, the Huskers desperately need help on kickoffs.Â
NU finished 10th in the Big Ten in kickoff percentage (30%) in 2020 and 13th in total kickoff yardage (57.18 yards per attempt). Those numbers were only a slight improvement from 2019, when the Huskers finished 13th in touchback percentage (21.12%) and last in average yards per kickoff (56.21). In those two seasons, Nebraska allowed a total of three kick return touchdowns, the most of any Big Ten team.
Among the other specialists known to have worked out for the Huskers on Friday is Morningside College kicker and former Gretna High soccer player and kicker Brendan Franke. The Huskers also have freshman walk-on Kelen Meyer joining the program this summer from Ord, where he set the Class C-2 record with a 58-yard field goal last fall.Â
Nebraska, too, would do well to find its place-kicker of the future through the walk-on ranks. Scholarship numbers are already expected to be very tight in 2022, so if NU can find one via walk on and then avoid an eventual scholarship counting against a class limit, that would constitute an ideal scenario.Â