Nebraska’s kicking situation has gone from shaky to outright ugly, and Tristan Alvano’s rebound at South Dakota State only makes the contrast sharper.
Matt Rhule spent plenty of time insisting the Huskers wouldn’t skip a beat after special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler left for USC. That hasn’t held up, especially when it comes to the field goal operation. Nebraska has already cycled through two kickers this season, and neither has settled the job.
Kyle Cunanan, who was very, very good in 2025, has cratered. He opened the year by hitting just 4 of 9 field goals and even missed an extra point, a stunning turn after going 45-for-45 on extra points last season.
That slump cost him the starting role, and John Hohl took over in the Washington game. Hohl hasn’t stabilized things either, going only 1-for-3 so far in 2026.
While Nebraska has been searching for answers, Alvano has been putting together a comeback season after leaving Lincoln. The kicker the Huskers let walk this offseason after he was buried on the depth chart transferred to South Dakota State and has made 15 of 20 field goals for the Jackrabbits.
That number doesn’t make him one of the sport’s elite kickers, but it’s enough to raise a simple question: how did things unravel so badly in Nebraska? Some of it, the reporting suggests, had to do with chemistry, or the lack of it, with Ekeler. And once the talk started about Ekeler leaving, Nebraska couldn’t convince Alvano to stay.
The numbers only deepen the frustration for Husker fans. Cunanan was 16 of 19 on field goals last season and even connected on 1 of 2 tries from beyond 50 yards. This fall, he’s 0-for-3 from over 50 yards and 1-for-5 from 40 yards or longer, with a long of exactly 40 yards.
Alvano has been more reliable from distance. He is 4-for-8 on kicks from 40 yards or longer and has a season-long make of 50 yards.
His path at Nebraska was uneven - he went 9-for-15 in his first year in Lincoln, then was 3-for-4 in 2024 with a career-long 55 yards. He did not attempt a field goal or an extra point in 2025.
And this hasn’t been some empty stat line built against weak competition. Against Northwestern, Alvano went 4-for-5 on field goal attempts in South Dakota State’s 34-18 loss.
In his most recent game, he delivered his best outing of the season, going 2-for-2 on field goals and scoring 11 points in the Jackrabbits’ 41-15 win. That included a 50-yarder and a 42-yard kick, plus 5-for-5 on extra points.
For Nebraska, the bigger picture is hard to ignore. It looks unlikely that Hohl or Cunanan will be the starting kicker in 2027. And if Alvano enters the transfer portal again for his final year of college football, it’s not out of the question that the native son gets another look from the Huskers.
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