By Dick Harmon
Deseret Morning News
Nate Soelberg is a very fast man. And his hands have caught up with the rest of his body just in time to make a comeback Dec. 22 in the Las Vegas Bowl. Soelberg is the former high school sprint champion who won the MWC 100 meters as a collegiate track athlete for BYU. But the most recognition he's had in college sports is playing football — for good or bad — as a cornerback for the Cougars' struggling, injury-plagued secondary. How injured is it? Just look at one guy. Soelberg sacrificed both his hands this season. Yep, broke them both in warfare. Laid 'em both on the gridiron altar. He's worn a cast on each hand the past two months. You can imagine all the stuff you do routinely every day that two casts can impede. It can crimp your style big-time. Now, Soelberg is back. He's running his guts out. He's trying to get his hands to match his legs. Just when he broke his left hand in the Colorado State game, he was getting a pretty good handle on the job of playing corner. You're placed on an island, a spot where you're exposed. Sitting on the sidelines has about killed Soelberg. It hurt more than his hands have ached.
All season long, Soelberg has kept close to the team, gone to every meeting and practice. On his own dime, Soelberg traveled to away games, paying his own way to UNLV and Wyoming. He was allowed on the team charter to a nonconference game at Notre Dame. "After the win at Wyoming, I was there and it was an awesome feeling for our team," Soelberg said. "I wouldn't have traded that celebration for anything."
Now, Soelberg's trying to complete the comeback by playing his last game as a Cougar against the Cal Bears in Las Vegas. He's chomping at the bit. He's pulling at the reins. He's so eager to play again it hurts. There are some things in practice he's restricted from doing. Soelberg isn't jamming receivers. He's making plays on the ball but not tackling. Soelberg is gaining flexibility in his right hand. His left, the one that just got the cast off, is still stiff and lacks flexibility to bend with a full range of motion. "But I'm rehabbing it and I can feel more flexibility in that hand every day. I think in a week or week and a half it will be all the way back." Head coach Bronco Mendenhall can use all the help he can get in his secondary — a unit that got punched down and run over this year. There have been so many players shuffling in and out, it's been hard to keep track of all the bodies. There is no substitute for Soelberg's experience, however. He's seen bullets fly. He's been in the heat of battle. He knows the formations, the plays and what to expect. Some of his brethren made mistakes out there on the island this fall — they just weren't ready.
Experience. You can't buy it, you earn it. "There's no way you can put a price on that," head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "As you look at our secondary, in most cases, four of the five haven't played that much and at some times in a game a mistake is reflective of that. It's our job as coaches to prepare the inexperienced players at a higher level so they can make plays instead of mistakes." This past week, Mendenhall, used to going back to 101 speeches in practice, caught himself with Soelberg. "I found myself already preparing to tell him something — like I was talking to a less experienced player— and I caught myself — because he already knows. It's just a better fit." Soelberg's attitude is reflective of the Cougars this week. Once they broke out the film on Cal, the whole team got hungry. The season-ending loss to Utah at LaVell Edwards Stadium triggered something in the Cougars — something they may not have had this week if they'd left feeling really swell after the game. Not like they did in Laramie after defeating Wyoming when they denied it publicly, but they had found a nice, snug comfort zone. Not now. These guys are ticked off. After Friday's session, Mendenhall noticed the intensity and he's having to recalculate his game plan for the next two weeks.
"It's going to be hard to hold them back," Mendenhall said. "We've got eight practices to go. I don't want to get anybody hurt and they're anxious to play; they want to play already. "So, from what I sense, we're going to have to do a great job of controlling the tempo on a daily basis and the practice structure to make sure that we're gaining momentum and peaking rather than peaking in practice and then ease into the game on a down slope. I'll have to compare the model with what we did Friday to see where we're at." Bowl fever in Provo. It's been a while. Folks at the Las Vegas Bowl reported Saturday they've taken the temperature, and it is a fever. For the first time in the 14-year history of the Pure Vision Las Vegas Bowl, the game is sold out and there's still more than a week to go. Tickets are all gone. "It is with great joy that I announce that we are sold out of tickets," Las Vegas Bowl executive director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said. "A full house on Dec. 22 will be a testament to the great fan support that both BYU and Cal enjoy." So Nate, can you deliver for Kunzer-Murphy? She wants entertainment. Go nuts, fella. In all my years covering bowl games, I've never seen a player take to the field after breaking both hands. Circus Circus has got nothing on that.
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