Kicker hopes he can regain starting spot

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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL

Barry Bonds will strike out. Tiger Woods will lip a putt.

And place-kickers will miss chip shots.

It happens. Happened to Sandro DeAngelis last year. The Nebraska kicker pushed a point-after attempt in the Huskers' second game against Utah State.

But unlike Bonds or Woods, DeAngelis was barely heard from again.

True freshman David Dyches pushed DeAngelis aside that very game, making four field goals in NU's 31-7 victory, and took over the starting duties.

DeAngelis attempted only one kick the rest of the year, and he's not bashful in voicing his displeasure.

"Ifeel like I was the only kicker in America who wasn't allowed to miss," DeAngelis said. "I felt that I was head and shoulders the best kicker last year, but I guess the coaches didn't see it that way."

DeAngelis' frustration may stem from the fact he's twice lost his starting job after one sub-par outing. In 2001, he started in place of suspended kicker Josh Brown in the season opener, then held off Brown for the starting job through three of four games. He'd made both of his field goals and all 14 PATs.

Then a missed 35-yard extra point and a blocked 32-yard field goal in his fourth start against Missouri spelled doom for DeAngelis. Brown replaced DeAngelis that very game and started the rest of the year. He's now in the NFL.

"I've always believed Ihave the talent to make it and be a darn good kicker," DeAngelis said, "but it's kind of difficult to show your talent sometimes when you're yanked after you miss. And it's happened to me twice."

DeAngelis sat out the 2002 season with a stress fracture in his left foot. Yet DeAngelis said last year was the hardest of his life.

"I've loved this place and wanted to be here ever since I was a little kid, and to be quite honest - this may sound absolutely ludicrous to you -Istarted to care a little less, because I realized football is not life," DeAngelis said. "It's not what makes up Sandro DeAngelis, and at one point in my life, Ithought that's what it was.

"Maybe sitting on the bench last year made me realize, yeah, I love this game a lot ... but it's not going to make or break me as a person. Whether caring less is going to make me a better kicker, only time will tell."

Entering his senior season, DeAngelis has yet another chance to reclaim the starting position. First-year coach BillCallahan has said throughout spring practices that DeAngelis and Dyches are considered even, and that both kickers have performed well.

Dyches, who made 14-of-21 field goals and all 32 PAT attempts last season, entered spring listed No. 1 on the depth chart.

"Probably most of the pressure is on me," Dyches said. "It's my job to lose."

Dyches knows of DeAngelis' frustrations. He's not, however, going to apologize for winning last year's battle, saying it's all about competition and taking advantage of opportunities.

"Once you get your shot, you've got to make 'em when you're called upon," Dyches said. "If you miss, you miss, and you didn't do your job."

DeAngelis has learned that the hard way.

"Kicking's a lot like life," DeAngelis said. "You go through a lot of ups and downs, but you've got to forget about those ups and downs, learn from them and hopefully get your chance to show that you have a backbone and that you can come back."

Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@;journalstar.com.