Brett Maher

Honors & Awards

• Bakken-Andersen Big Ten co-Kicker of the Year (2012)
• First-Team All-Big Ten Place-Kicker (Media, Phil Steele, 2012)
• Second-Team All-Big Ten Place-Kicker (Coaches, 2012)
• Second-Team All-Big Ten Punter (Coaches, 2012)
• Third-Team All-Big Ten Punter (Phil Steele, 2012)
• Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten Punter (Media, 2012)
• Lou Groza Award Star of the Week (vs. Wisconsin, 2012)
• Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week (vs. Wisconsin, vs. Michigan, vs. Penn State, 2012)
• Nebraska Team Captain (2011, 2012)
• Nebraska Special Teams MVP (2011, 2012)
• First-Team All-America Kicker (Yahoo.com, 2011)
• Honorable-Mention All-America Kicker (Sports Illustrated, 2011)
• Touchdown Club of Columbus Vlade Award Winner (Nation's Most Accurate Kicker, 2011)
• Bakken-Andersen Big Ten Kicker of the Year (2011)
• Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year (2011)
• First-Team All-Big Ten Punter (Coaches, Media, Yahoo.com, Phil Steele, 2011)
• First-Team All-Big Ten Kicker (Coaches, Media, ESPN, Yahoo.com, Phil Steele, 2011)
• Lou Groza Award Semifinalist (1 of 20, 2011)
• Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week (vs. Chattanooga, Ohio State, Penn State, 2011)
• Second-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2009)
• Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Academic Honor Roll (2009)
• Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2012)

Brett Maher continued Nebraska's long line of outstanding kickers and punters over the past two seasons. Maher completed his Husker career in 2012, and he left a significant mark in the NU record book with his performance the past two seasons.

A Kearney native, Maher was one of five former walk-ons who were awarded a scholarship for the 2012 season. Maher made 20-of-27 field goals, while connecting on all 59 of his PAT attempts. His 20 field goals as a senior are second on the NU season chart, bettering his 2011 total by one. Maher scored 119 points to set a Nebraska record for most points scored in a season by a kicker. He ranked third overall in the Big Ten in scoring and first among kickers.

In 2012, Maher had four games with three field goals, giving him six games with three or more field goals in his career. He also connected on three field goals beyond 50 yards this season, giving him six career field goals of at least 50 yards. Maher's efforts as a kicker earned him first-team All-Big Ten honors for the second straight season and also the Bakken-Andersen Big Ten Kicker-of-the-Year Award for the second straight season.

Maher also handled the punting duties the past two seasons and averaged 41.8 yards per punt in 2012. He placed 18 punts inside the opponent 20, while also booming 17 punts of at least 50 yards. He was a second-team All-Big Ten choice as a punter by the coaches. Maher also handled kickoff duties and had 57 touchbacks in 96 kickoffs in 2012.

2012 (Senior)
Southern Miss: Missed field goals of 41 and 44 yards... was a perfect 7-for-7 on PATs... was only called upon to punt once in the game. UCLA: Connected on a career-long 54-yard field goal at the end of the first half, bettering his 51 yarder at Michigan in 2011... was the longest field goal ever for Nebraska away from Memorial Stadium and tied for the fifth-longest in school history... added 43-yard and 40-yard field goals on the night, marking the sixth game of his career with two or more field goals made... booted seven punts for 275 yards, including two that pinned UCLA inside its own 20-yard line... boomed a then-season high 64-yard punt in the fourth quarter. Arkansas State: Was a perfect 6-for-6 on PATs... booted two punts for 115 yards, with one pinning ASU inside it's own 20. Idaho State: Was a perfect 10-for-10 in PAT tries, bettering his previous best of six against both Fresno State and Washington in 2011... went 1-for-2 in field goals, with the make coming from 49 yards out with 41 seconds remaining in the first half... missed his first field goal try from 51 yards away... punted just twice on the day for 69 yards. Wisconsin: Made field goals of 26, 38 and 41 yards... marked his second game with three field goals in 2012 and the fourth of his career... added three extra points for 12 points, giving him 150 career points... recorded 140 yards on three punts, including one inside UW's 20-yard line. Ohio State: Had a 26-yard field goal against the Buckeyes... added five extra points for eight points in the game. Northwestern: Downed five of his nine punts inside the Northwestern 20, including four punts inside the Wildcat 7-yard line... had two punts of 50 yards or more, including a 58-yarder in the third quarter... made his only FG attempt of the day (27 yards) and was 2-for-2 on PAT attempts. Michigan: Connected on 3-of-3 field goals, including kicks from 19, 51 and 31 yards in the third quarter... marked his third game this season with three field goals and the fifth of his career... his 51-yard field goal was his second field goal of more than 50 yards in 2012 and the fifth of his career... his 19-yard field goal was the first of his career of less than 20 yards... downed 2-of 4 punts inside the 20-yard line. Michigan State: Booted four punts for 149 yards, including a 51-yarder... was a perfect 4-for-4 on PAT tries... missed his only FG attempt of the game. Penn State: Connected on field goals of 32, 27 and 33 yards, while also adding three PATs... marked the ninth game of his career with at least two field goals and the sixth with three or more, including four times this season... tied a career high with a 69-yard punt (Michigan, 2011) from the Nebraska 29-yard line that pinned PSU at its own 2 late in the fourth quarter... Nebraska recorded a safety two plays later when Matt McGloin was flagged for intentional grounding in his own end zone. Minnesota: Played in his 51st career game at Nebraska in his final game at Memorial Stadium... scored eight points on a 39-yard first quarter field goal and 5-5 PATs. Iowa: Scored seven points on a 26-yard first-quarter field goal, a 52-yard field goal in the third quarter and one PAT... marked the 10th time in his career he has had at least two field goals, including five times this season... his 52-yard field goal in the third quarter improved him to 3-of-5 from beyond 50 yards in 2012 and 6-of-11 in his career... also punted six times for a 43.2-yard average, including a 61-yard punt to pin Iowa on its 4 in the second quarter. Wisconsin (Big Ten Championship): Scored six points on a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter and three PATS. Georgia (Capital One Bowl): Connected on a 39-yard field goal and made all four PATs... increased his season FG total to 20, second-most in school history... finished with 39 career field goals... increased season scoring total to 119 points, the most ever by an NU kicker... punted three times for an average of 45.3 yards per boot.

2011 (Junior)
Maher had field goals of 50 and 48 yards against Chattanooga as part of his 4-of-4 effort, and also averaged 52.0 yards per punt. The performance earned him Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. Against Fresno State, Maher became the first Husker punter since 2005 to average 50-plus yards per punt in consecutive games, averaging 50.8 yards per punt on five kicks. He added three field goals against Washington and closed non-league play with a 53.0-yard punting average at Wyoming, and also had six touchbacks in seven kickoffs.

After hitting 1-of-2 field goals at Wisconsin, Maher earned Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week against Ohio State, as he went 2-for-2 on field goals, including a 50-yarder, while also placing two punts inside the 20. Maher earned the Big Ten award for a third time at Penn State, when he placed a career-high five of his eight punts inside the 20-yard line while averaging 45.0 per punt. He also made a 41-yard field goal. Maher a career-long 51-yard field goal at Michigan, and also booted a career-best 69-yard punt. Maher made two field goals in the regular season finale with Iowa and also pinned the Hawkeyes inside the 20 on four punts. Maher suffered his first missed PAT of the season and first missed field goal inside 50 yards against South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl.

2010 (Sophomore)
Maher played in 13 games as the holder, and assisted Henery to a perfect season on extra points (54-54), and 18-of-19 field goal accuracy.

2009 (Redshirt Freshman)
Maher played in all 14 games as the Huskers' holder for PATs and field goal attempts, while also serving as the backup punter to starter Alex Henery. On the year, the Huskers were 38-of-38 on PAT tries and Henery hit on a school-record 24-of-28 field goals. 

2008 (Redshirt)
A walk-on, Maher redshirted for the Huskers in 2008.  

Before Nebraska (Kearney HS)
Maher put together an impressive senior year at Kearney High School under Coach Brandon Cool. Maher went 41-for-46 kicking extra points and 8-for-14 on field goals, while averaging 41.2 yards per punt. Along with his kicking duties, Maher played wide receiver where he had 775 receiving yards and 10 touchdown receptions.

For his efforts on the field, Maher earned first-team all-state honors from both the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star, while playing for the North Squad in the 2008 Shrine Bowl. He was also an honorable-mention Class A all-state pick in basketball.

Maher capped his senior season with a state championship in the long jump at the state track meet, while also winning the pole vault and setting a state record. Maher turned down offers from Ohio and Colorado State to walk on at Nebraska.

Personal
The son of Brian and Peggy Maher, Brett was born on Nov. 21, 1989. Maher is majoring in secondary education-mathematics. He was a second-team academic All-Big 12 pick in 2009, and a member of the 2009 Big 12 Commissioner’s Spring Honor Roll. Maher has been one of Nebraska’s most active players in the community in the past year and was named to the 2012 Brook Berringer Citizenship Team. He has volunteered his time as a guest speaker at numerous elementary schools, with hospital visits and the Husker Hotline. Maher’s sister, Maggie, is a junior on the Nebraska track and field team, and his older sister, Lindsey, was a member of the track team from 2007 to 2010.

 

Maher's Career Statistics

 

.	.	.	.	.	.	Field Goal Range					.
Year	G	PAT	FG	TP	PPG	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Lg
2008		Redshirt
2009	14/0	0-0	0-0	0	0.00	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	--
2010	13/0	0-0	0-0	0	0.00	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	--
2011	13/13	43-44	19-23	100	7.69	0-0	7-7	5-6	4-4	3-6	51
2012	14/14	49-50	20-27	119	8.5	1-1	5-5	7-9	4-7	3-5	54
Totals	54/27	102-103	39-50	219	4.1	1-1	12-12	12-15	8-11	6-11	54

 

	.	.	.	.	.	Punting
Year	G/S	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long	TB	FC	I20	Blk.
2008		Redshirt
2009	14/0	No Attempts
2010	13/0	No Attempts
2011	13/13	59	2,626	41.38	69	3	9	25	1
2012	14/14	61	2,552	41.8	69	3	10	18	1
Totals	54/27	120	5,178	43.2	69	6	19	43	2

Single-Game Highs
» Field Goals-4 vs. Chattanooga (2011)
» Long Field Goal-54 yards at UCLA (2012)
» PATs Made-10 vs. Idaho State (2012)
» Punts-9 at Northwestern (2012)
» Long Punt-69 yards twice (Michigan in 2011; Penn State in 2012)