Cotton Bowl matchup: Special teams

Big games can turn on a single play, with special teams often providing the spark.

Both the Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida Gators will be without some familiar faces in Wednesday’s Cotton Bowl Classic, potentially tilting the special teams advantage toward the Sooners.

The return game especially took a hit for both teams, as the opt-outs of Tre Brown and Kadarius Toney left both squads without their leading kickoff returner.

Brown’s kickoff returns were pivotal for Oklahoma in its last time out. His pair of 43-yard returns set the Sooners offense up with prime field position to put points on the board twice against a tough Iowa State defense.

Spearheaded by Brown, the Sooners have had a great kickoff return game all year, averaging 25.8 yards. The Gators have been much less explosive, averaging 19.8 yards per kickoff return.

Toney’s home run ability has aided the Florida punt return game, however. Averaging 12.64 yards per return, Toney flashed his ability to make defenders miss in the open field earlier this season when he juked defenders left and right en route to a 50-yard punt return touchdown against Kentucky.

True freshman Marvin Mims has had his fair share of good punt returns for the Sooners this season, and he’ll hope to add to his average of 12.5 yards per return in the Cotton Bowl.

If the game comes down to a field goal, the Sooners and the Gators appear to be evenly matched on paper.

Gabe Brkic was unable to replicate last year’s perfect season, but he still was able to hit a respectable 18-of-24 field goals this season. Brkic did set a career long in the Big 12 Championship game, converting a 54-yard attempt, which was the longest field goal by a Sooner since the ’90s.

Evan McPherson is 15-of-19 on the season for Florida, with his longest make coming from 53 yards out. McPherson did have a crucial miss against LSU earlier this year with the game on the line.

After Florida defensive back Marco Wilson’s shoe shenanigans led to a go-ahead field goal for the Tigers, Kyle Trask was able to give his Gators one last chance by moving the ball to the edge of field goal range. Trask’s heroics ended up being for naught as McPherson was unable to connect on his game-tying 51-yard attempt as time expired.

Though Brkic has missed six kicks this year, the Sooners have to like their chances turning to him with the game on the line. He has delivered clutch field goals both at Baylor last year to complete the greatest comeback in school history, and in the Big 12 Championship game this year, played at AT&T Stadium. He also made a 24-yarder in last year’s Big 12 title game in Arlington.

While on paper the special teams matchup is fairly even, the players who will miss the season finale could swing the battle in favor of the Sooners.