Football: Tight ends provide big threats for Mavericks

Somewhere, down deep inside, UNO coach Pat Behrns must have a cruel side to his personality.

How else to describe the pleasure he takes in unleashing tight ends Mike Higgins and Austin Wells against the Mavericks' competition?

“It's kind of fun to sit in film sessions and watch (assistant coaches) devise ways to get the ball to them,” Behrns said.

Through seven games, Higgins has 22 receptions for 473 yards and six touchdowns, while Wells has another 14 grabs for 178 yards and two more scores — a combined total of 36 for 651 yards and eight touchdowns. Only wide receiver Brian Miller, with 25, has more catches than Higgins for UNO, while Wells is fourth on the team.

Last week, in a 31-21 win over then-No. 12 Washburn, Higgins and Wells combined for 10 catches for 177 yards and three touchdowns.

“We both catch the ball well and we both run pretty well — but he's faster than I am,” Wells said. “We both block well. We both can make plays.”

Higgins — a 6-foot-5, 241-pound junior from Pickrell, Neb. — came to UNO from Beatrice High School as what Behrns called a 205-pound “beanpole.” But, while becoming a bigger and bigger part of the University of Nebraska at Omaha's passing game, Higgins has maintained his speed and pass catching ability while adding size and strength.

“He still looks thin,” Behrns said. “But I'm not sure anybody has as good of pure hands as he does. Some of the catches he makes are unbelievable, and so is the effort he makes to make catches. It's amazing how close he comes to catching bad passes.”

It's pretty amazing to watch Higgins run through secondaries after making catches, too. Twice he's taken short passes more than 60 yards for touchdowns. He averages a wide receiver-like 21.5 yards per reception, 9 yards better than Central Missouri tight end DeMarco Cosby, considered by many to be the league's best.

In fact, UNO will often split Higgins out as more of a wide receiver.

“I'm not ready to switch positions or anything,” Higgins said. “But I like it, and it gives defenses another thing to prepare against.”

Wells, a sophomore from Norfolk, Neb., has more traditional tight end size at 6-3 and 252. At many schools, Wells would be the No. 1 target at tight end.

“Really, they're both starters here,” Behrns said. “It's easier just to start them both than to even decide.”

UNO has run more and more two tight end formations, particularly since fullback (actually, in UNO's new nomenclature, H-back) Brett Bohuslavsky missed last week with a knee injury. Bohuslavsky is questionable for Saturday's 2 p.m. game at Fort Hays State.

Maybe it's allowed offensive coordinator Aaron Keen even more creativity. Last week, UNO unveiled a play in which all the flow went to the right side of the field — then Higgins leaked out to the left along the line of scrimmage. Quarterback Greg Wunderlich heaved an across-the-field pass to Higgins, who jogged 9 yards to the end zone.

On another play, Wells shot past a blitzing cornerback down the sideline on a 31-yard play, his longest of the season.

With Wunderlich questionable this week with a broken toe, redshirt freshman quarterback John Teigland is well aware of what he has at his disposal, even if it isn't by design.

“You look for guys like that, along with a bigger receiver like (6-3) Brian Miller, when you're putting your ‘Oh, crap plan' together,” Teigland said. “You can look to them to help you out and make a play if you throw it up to them.”

Around the MIAA, “Oh, crap plans” center around UNO's tight ends, too.

“It's great to have kind of a dual threat there,” Higgins said. “It can cause some matchup problems for some teams.”

Contact the writer:

444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

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