Before Alex Henery kicked that 57-yard go-ahead field goal against Colorado last season, he could easily walk around unnoticed by the general public.
The Nebraska placekicker and punter said it's a been a little harder to stay under the radar since.
"There've been some really weird Wal-Mart experiences," Henery joked. "There's been a lot of them – people asking me to sign things, others to take pictures with them. It's kind of a long story."
So is Henery's career at Nebraska.
The junior kicker started from humble beginnings when he walked on in 2006. Henery, a graduate of Omaha Burke High School, had a stable of kickers in front of him to learn from, including kickers Jordan Congdon and Jake Wesch, as well as punter Dan Titchener.
Henery said he picked up different techniques and styles from his predecessors but credits most of his kicking ability to his soccer background. Henery began playing soccer at the age of 4, but it wasn't until his freshman year of high school that he was first introduced to a football.
To say the least, it didn't take long for the undersized Henery to realize he had a future in kicking. He said it was pretty easy to translate his experiences in soccer to the gridiron.
"(Soccer) is kind of where I learned how to hit the ball in a certain spot, because you can really bend a soccer ball, so it transitioned over," Henery said.
Henery isn't the only soccer-enthusiast-turned-football-player on the NU roster, either. He joins fellow kicker Adi Kunalic and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh as players who started playing soccer first. Henery admitted he was a little surprised to know Suh's history in the sport.
"I haven't (played soccer with Suh)," Henery said. "He says he can play, so I may have to take him up on that before he leaves. He always says he used to dominate in soccer, so I will leave it at that, I guess."
One thing Suh won't be able to claim is Henery's success kicking the football this season.
Through 11 games this season, Henery has made 16 of his 19 field goal attempts, with the majority of them being between 20 and 40 yards long. However, it is beyond 40 yards where Henery has run into some trouble, being successful on just three of six field goal attempts.
His accolades don't stop there, though. This season, Henery has doubled as Nebraska's punter, and after a relatively slow start he's factored in as a difference-maker in NU's recent games. Of his 59 punts this year, Henery has been able to put 22 inside the 20-yard-line, including two inside the 3-yard-line against Kansas State on Saturday.
Henery's pinpoint control with his punts has made some of his teammates' jaws drop.
"I'm baffled," NU center Jacob Hickman said. "The one that was at the three(-yard line) was one of the best one's I've ever seen. That's up there with Sam Koch's one that he had against Pittsburgh, where he booted one from out of the end zone all the way to the opponent's 10-yard-line."
Nebraska tight end Mike McNeill said he's come to expect a great punt from Henery any time the offense can't get a drive going.
"It's huge," McNeill said. "It changes the game. It's awesome for us because, with our defense, we're going to get the ball back with good field position. When the offense starts in positive territory, we can take some more chances."
McNeill said he still can't thank Henery enough for "bailing him out" against Colorado last season. With less than two minutes to go in the game, former NU quarterback Joe Ganz was sacked for 15 yards, putting the ball on the CU 40-yard-line and giving the Huskers a 3rd-and-25 situation.
On the following play, Ganz threw the ball to a wide open McNeill downfield, but the ball went through the tight end's hands, setting up the improbable 57-yard-field goal.
"I felt I had lost us the game because I had dropped the pass," McNeill said. "If we lost, it was going to be my fault. All I could say was, ‘Thank you, Alex, for bailing me out.' I said thank you right away. I told him people would be yelling at me right now had we not won."
The Huskers used the momentum from the kick to seal up a 40-31 win over the Buffaloes in Lincoln.
On Friday, two significantly different teams will clash in Boulder, Colo., to renew the North Division rivalry. McNeill joked that he hopes NU won't be in the same situation as last year but said he will continue to have complete faith in Henery no matter what.
"He's awesome," McNeill said. "He's amazing. It's funny to say, but he's a dominant player. He changes games. It's kind of weird coming from a kicker standpoint or a punter standpoint. The fact that he can pin someone down on their goal line – that changes the games."
spencerschubert@dailynebraskan.com