Senior Nunn proves 'a willing soul'

[Husker_Power]

By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star

Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 - 12:13:08 am CDT

 

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Right there. That’s where it happened. Terrence Nunn points a finger in the general direction of the football field Nebraskans hold so dear.

 

“Right there.”

 

Football practice has ended and Nunn’s is one of just a few voices left under Memorial Stadium’s north end zone stands.

 

It all happened so quick, Nunn explains. Zac Taylor rolled out and flipped a pass and Nunn looked it in like he was catching a baby, and that was it … pure exhilaration, the great joy so many boys in this state grow up wanting to obtain.

 

“It was basically like, ‘Damn, I caught a touchdown.’ I didn’t even know what to do.”

 

What? You thought he was talking about another play?

 

Seems like just the other day Nebraska fans were saying hello to the wide receiver from Houston. Now he’s the old man, the senior.

 

“I don’t even like to talk about it,” Nunn says about this being it, the final season.

 

There are plenty of receivers who are big talkers, but Nunn is not one of those.

 

He answers to give an answer, not to hear himself talk, which is refreshing, but also perhaps part reason as to why he travels along so unheralded.

 

Yet it is Nunn who caught more passes than any Husker in 2006 — 42 of them, eight more than Maurice Purify — and it is Nunn who ranks third in school history in receiving yards with 1,310.

 

Only Johnny Rodgers and Matt Davison have had more, and Davison holds an advantage by just 146 yards.

 

Considering this, it seems fair to find Husker offensive coordinator Shawn Watson with a question: Is Nunn undervalued by those outside the walls of the program?

 

“It’s hard to say how an opponent would look at Terrence, but I know what you’re saying,” Watson says. “Because if you’re a fan, you know he’s on the team, you know he contributes, he makes plays. But if you’re a coach, you know exactly how much he does do for you. He does a lot.

 

“He’s been called on to do everything from crunch-blocking a defensive end to running a post route for a touchdown, and he’s a willing soul. That’s what’s really awesome about Terrence.”

 

He’s a willing soul who fumbled against Texas.

 

Football is occasionally cruel, and it was to Nunn one snowy day last fall. He had just caught a late-game pass for a first down. If he gets down without fumbling, the game is almost certainly Nebraska’s.

 

But there was Texas defender Aaron Ross’ helmet. It met the football and made it pop loose from Nunn’s hands. Texas recovered, drove down, kicked a field goal and won 22-20.

 

The thing is, if such a thing is going to happen to a person, better it happen to someone like Nunn. Another guy might not be able to get up from the blow. Nunn says there were two or three days of pain, then he moved on to his next slant route.

 

It’s a memory now, not as good as that touchdown he described, but something that would not hold him back, either.

 

“It happens. It happens to the best. It happened to Tony Romo. It’s just part of football,” Nunn says. “You just have to come through adversity. Everything’s not always going to be given to you. Bad things happen to some of the greatest players.”

 

Watson just hopes people don’t define Nunn by that one play.

 

“There’s no one play that defines a player and no one thing in life that ever defines a man,” he says. “You know Terrence has moved on. He understands that because of his maturity.”

 

Receivers coach Ted Gilmore is banking on that maturity for this season. He’s hoping the senior can lead the young guys.

 

“I was telling Terrence just the other day, ‘Hey, it’s part of your legacy. When you got here, you didn’t have anybody to show you the way. The system was new. You got to show these guys the way. That’s part of the responsibility.’”

 

To Watson it’s as simple as this: If the Husker freshmen receivers work as hard as Nunn, good things will find them.

 

“You take a young guy like Curenski Gilleylen and Niles Paul and you say, ‘This is what you want to be when you’re a senior. This is what you want to be when you’re a sophomore,’” Watson says.

 

“The faster you figure out Terrence Nunn’s secret, which is his attitude towards football, his work ethic towards football, the faster you’re going to have success.”

 

Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.

[Eric the Red]

I know he's got a ton of catches but consistency has not been a word to describe Terrence Nunn

[Touchdown Tommie]

I know he's got a ton of catches but consistency has not been a word to describe Terrence Nunn

 

I agree with you on that. He makes an unbelievable catch and then he drops some easy ones. It is nice to have a senior leader on the team though at WR.

[pigsonthewing]

i hope he goes out with a good bang. He has done a lot for this program.

[Foppa]

May this be the year he combines experience with consistancy!

[Hunter94]

yes, for all the hype he has lacked true consistency as a WR.

[skersOVRsc]

Lots of good things to say about a kid who came in and learned this system without the advantage of having everyone else around him already knowing it to help him, the new guys have an easier road than he did. Hope he can close his carrer well.