Matt Rhule expects to finalize kicking competition soon

Nebraska is less than a week out from a Thursday night opener against Minnesota on Aug. 31, and head coach Matt Rhule is still settling on a kicker. He expects to make a decision in the coming days, though.

Two players — Tristan Alvano and Brian Buschini — are currently vying for the starting job and have run with the ones through camp at various points. Rhule hopes to put them through some paces over the weekend and make a call.

“I think it’s just over the next couple of days. Well have, obviously Sunday, we’ll be in full pads. We’ll kick again there so we’ve — as I said, Buschini was kind of going with the ones and Tristan was going with the ones and then it was come into Sunday, we’ll have one more day of competition,” Rhule said.

But one kicker earning the starting gig at the end of August doesn’t mean that role is permanently cemented.

“And then just for me like, for me the depth chart is an organism. It’s ever changing. I’m not a big, ‘Hey, set it stone’ type of a guy. We’re going to play guys and competition, competition’s always there and you have the power to change your situation so that’ll kind of be a weekly thing,” Rhule said.

Nebraska and Rhule have some bigger questions than kicker to answer

Rhule provided an update on Arik Gilbert’s waiver status, and it seems as if he’s still awaiting an answer.

The Georgia Bulldogs transfer tight end’s waiver has yet to be cleared from the NCAA, and with just weeks before the season’s start, time is running out for a decision to be made before the 2023 season. On Friday, Rhule explained his thoughts on the matter, and added that it hasn’t been a straightforward process.

“It’s still in progress. We’re hoping that before we head to Minnesota there will be some finality on it. There’s obviously been some twist and turns, with things going back and forth,” Rhule said. “Out of respect for Arik, I’m not going to broadcast all those different things. But there’s still just — looking for some finality, and everyone’s working hard to get it done.”

Alas, the news comes after a couple of weeks ago, Rhule made a plea to the NCAA to get the waiver finalized, believing that if Gilbert doesn’t get it, then they shouldn’t even have it in the first place.

“It’s not finalized yet. I’m going to be really disappointed if he doesn’t get it. He’s the most deserving young man of that. If he doesn’t get it, the NCAA shouldn’t even have the waiver,” Rhule said, earlier this month. “But there are a lot of parties involved. A lot of entities out there that don’t have people’s best interests at heart. Arik deserves, 100%, in my opinion — in my humble opinion.