On third down and five late in the second quarter, the junior receiver lined out wide. With Nebraska down 9-7 to Iowa State, he was looking to give the offense the big spark it needed. Paul beat his man off the line, raced down the left sideline, and NU quarterback Zac Lee spotted him. Paul caught the deep pass at the 40-yard line and broke free. He jumped a tackle attempt and looked to be in the clear.
That’s when everything got weird.
“I made a crucial mistake trying to make a play, trying to give the extra effort that the coaches wanted,” Paul said. “I basically lost focus and started thinking about what the (defensive back) was going to do. I heard him dive, so I started high-kneeing, and he tried to trip me up, so I tried to stay inbounds, and the ball came right out. I still don’t know how it happened.
But it did.”
Paul fumbled away an open shot at a touchdown, and Nebraska lost the game 9-7.
The sideline fumble was only one of Nebraska’s eight turnovers for the day, but it’s the one that will stick with Paul for a long time.
“I’ll tell you this: I’ll never forget that play as long as I play football,” Paul said. “I’m always going to remember that. I think about it morning, noon and night.”
Paul said he watched the play over and over on Sunday.
“I really don’t know what happened,” Paul said. “I was trying to stay in bounds and get the ball in the end zone, and the ball popped out.”
The film didn’t offer him any relief or answers.
“I still don’t know what I did wrong,” Paul said. “There’s nothing I would have done differently. I was kicking up my legs so I didn’t get tackled. I was running as hard as I can. I just lost control of the ball.”
His postion coach Ted Gilmore couldn’t provide Paul with any answers, either. Gilmore said he talked to his receiver but didn’t berate him for the turnover.
“Me yelling at him isn’t going to help,” Gilmore said.
Paul said the play weighed on his mind the rest of the game. He sat out a few plays and wanted to do anything to take his mind off the situation.
The day for Nebraska and Paul didn’t get much better. The team continued to struggle, and he continued to wrestle with his emotions during the course of the second half. Paul finished with two more catches, but it was the one he didn’t make that the fans will remember. On third and 15, and just shy of field-goal range, Paul ran five yards and cut toward the sideline. Lee looked his way and threw to the receiver. The pass hit Paul’s hands as he turned upfield to try and gain extra yards.
He forgot to take the pass with him.
“I wanted to get the first down,” Paul said. “The defender was off, and I thought I could take off and get the first down. I left without the ball.”
His bad day had gotten worse. His drop forced Nebraska to punt and resulted in a chorus of boos from the crowd. Lee said he didn’t say anything to Paul on the sidelines after the play. There wasn’t anything he could say to take away the last few quarters of football.
“We’re both competitive guys,” Lee said. “Neither of us wants to lose. We know that.”
One person that reached out to Paul was someone who’s been through this situation before. His uncle, former Husker great Ahman Green, sent Paul a text message after the game. The text said “Call me. We have to talk.” The nephew ignored his uncle, but knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid him for long.
“He knows the routine,” Paul said. “I read his text after the game and ignored it. He called me almost 15 minutes after the game. He told me that it happened to him multiple times.”
Paul said his relationship with his uncle helps making these type of mistakes easier to deal with. But he doesn’t think of Green as an NFL player relaying him with knowledge. Paul thinks of him first as a friend.
“I don’t really care that he’s in the league,” Paul said. “We do stuff that uncles and nephews do. We have fun.”
He may think of him only as a relative, but Green’s words are helping Paul get through a rough patch in his athletic career. Against Texas Tech, Paul dropped a ball that he perceived to be a forward pass, but the play was actually a lateral. A Red Raider defender scooped up the ball and took it to the end zone, giving Texas Tech a 14-0 lead and shocking the Huskers and Paul in the process.
“Things like that have never happened to me before,” Paul said. “I’ve never dropped a lateral, and I’ve never fumbled a deep ball before.”
This isn’t what coaches envisioned when Paul was dubbed “the man” during fall camp by offensive coordinator Shawn Watson. Gilmore said he doesn’t think Paul has let the hype surrounding him affect his play.
“I’m still having fun,” Paul said. “It’s college football – you’ve got to love the game. I’m still playing it.”
That’s not to say he isn’t putting in extra work. After each day of practice this week, Paul and a football assistant worked on his catching with a machine that shoots the ball at the receiver. Paul is still standing there catching passes 15 minutes after the practice field has emptied.
His work ethic didn’t shock his coach.
“I’m not surprised to see Niles getting in some extra work,” Gilmore said. “He’s a very hard worker.”
But the best assessment of Paul’s value came from Jacob Hickman, the team’s center. While giving an interview after practice on Tuesday, Hickman turned and pointed at his teammate.
Even with the frustrating events surrounding Paul’s last two weeks, Hickman paid him perhaps the greatest compliment one player can give another.
“That speaks a lot about his character,” Hickman said. “Niles is out there getting extra (reps), and that’s the kind of guy you want to play with.”
michaelschaefer@dailynebraskan.com
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