Nebraska record-setter Henery has shown Colorado he can kick; now he’s dead-eye punter, too

Nebraska’s kicking star a dead-eye punter, too

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska’s Alex Henery says he always looks forward to kicking in the thin air at Colorado.

That’s a bad omen for the Buffaloes, who host the Cornhuskers in Boulder on Friday.

They already know how well Henery performs in Lincoln. Henery’s school-record 57-yard field goal gave the Huskers the lead in the final 2 minutes of last year’s 40-31 win.

Since then, Henery has added punting to his repertoire. If the Buffs want to see how good he is at that, all they need to do is check out the film of Nebraska’s 17-3 win over Kansas State last week.

Henery, trying to avoid a big runback by K-State star Brandon Banks, pinned the Wildcats at their 1 and 3 on two of his six punts. Both of those hit the ground and immediately bounced right, out of bounds.

Henery doesn’t have the name recognition of defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, but his field-goal kicking and punting put him in the conversation about the Huskers’ biggest weapons.

Coach Bo Pelini took note of the former walk-on’s value after last year’s Colorado game and put him on scholarship before this season.

“When he made that 57-yarder, I think it became pretty clear to me,” Pelini said. “He bailed my butt out. I tried everything I could to lose that football game, so he earned it right there in my mind. He’s done so much. What more can you ask of a guy? If anybody has earned it, he has.”

Henery said he approaches his punting like his short game in golf. He worked at a Lincoln golf course over the summer and shoots in the mid 70s playing with women’s clubs that belong to his mom.

The strength of his golf game is attacking the pin inside 100 yards, kind of like trying to get his punts to stop close to the goal line.

Henery, who leads the Big 12 with 22 of his 59 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, said there is some luck involved.

“You have to put it in the right place and then hope,” he said. “You can get different spins on the ball so it’ll bounce a certain way. But it’s a little bit luck.”

Kicking conditions should be perfect in Boulder on Friday. The forecast calls for sunshine and temperatures in the 50s. The thin air could give Henery some added distance if he needs it.

The strong-legged junior cleared the cross bar with lots of room to spare on his 57-yarder last year — a kick that is just a blur to him now.

He said people sometimes come up to him and tell him where they were when he boomed the record-setting field goal.

“I never really thought I’d do something like that, and it’s a little overwhelming,” he said. “It seemed like it was going so fast. As a kicker, it’s something you try to do. Everyone steps up at some time. That’s the time I had to step up.”

Henery and his teammates go into Friday’s game having already clinched the Big 12 North title, which puts them in the Dec. 5 conference championship game against third-ranked Texas.

Pelini imposed a gag order on any Texas talk this week.

“I told our people in the offices, the coaching staff, I don’t want to hear about plans, travel plans, about tickets or anything else about the Big 12 title game,” he said. “That will come. Our full focus is on Colorado.”