Oklahoma 2022 Report Card: Special Teams

Brent Venables returned creativity and aggression to the third phase of the game for Oklahoma in 2022.

Author:
Ryan Chapman
Publish date:
Jan 14, 2023 8:00 AM EST

In this story:

Upon arriving in Norman, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables guaranteed an emphasis on every phase of the game, including special teams.

Thirteen games into his head coaching career, Venables delivered on his initial promise, bringing a new level of unpredictability to the third phase of OU’s football team.

Jay Nunez, Oklahoma’s Special Teams Analyst, delivered a trio of fake field goals this year, converting two of the three attempts.

Texas and Iowa State were each caught off guard once, as the Cyclones even gave up a touchdown when OU punter Michael Turk flipped the ball to kicker Zach Schmit on a fake field goal.

Turk almost struck gold again against Texas Tech in Oklahoma’s regular season finale, but the punter was unable to successfully hit tight end Brayden Willis for a touchdown on the Sooners’ lone failed fake field goal attempt.

Venables’ aggressiveness bled over to the return game as well, as OU’s returners often were given the green light on punts and kickoffs.

In 2021, the Sooners averaged 5.3 punt return yards per game.

This past season, Oklahoma improved that mark to 13.0 yards per game, helping the offense gain field position.

2022 OU Report Cards:

But where OU took steps forward in the return game, Oklahoma regressed in both phases of the kicking game.

After averaging 51.2 yards per punt in 2021, Turk only boomed punts 46.8 yards per attempt in 2022.

He was called into action 28 more times in 2022, however, as the offense sputtered at times throughout the year.

Turk still finished third in the entire country in yards per punt, as he only took a minor step back this season.

The Sooners fared worse in the kicking department as Venables had to replace the reliable Gabe Brkic from last year’s team.

Schmit won the job out of camp, and initially showed signs of promise.

But as the season wore on, so did Schmit’s consistency.

He missed a pair of key kicks against West Virginia, a high-pressure kick in overtime against Texas Tech and an early try in the Cheez-It Bowl against Florida State, and OU lost all three of those contests by a field goal.

Schmit made just 66.7 percent of his kicks in 2022, which ended tied for No. 92-overall amongst kickers across the country.

Oklahoma special teams also surrendered momentum with poor kickoff coverage in a few key moments this season.

In the conference opener, the Sooners fell into an early 14-0 hole against Kansas State.

Dillon Gabriel led the offense on a pair of touchdown drives to knot the game at 14-14, and Oklahoma appeared as if it was going to steady itself after the early adversity.

But the Sooners allowed Malik Knowles to break off a 58-yard return on the ensuing kickoff, and the Wildcats took control of the game back by going up 21-14.

A 42-yard kickoff return from West Virginia’s Sam James sparked a Mountaineer touchdown drive just before halftime, and Texas Tech almost had a dream start to the regular season finale after Jordan Brown’s 67-yard return on the opening kickoff, but an Ethan Downs forced fumble erased the coverage mistake.

The performance on special teams was far from perfect in Year 1 under Venables, but it represented an improvement as the previous regime neglected it to the detriment of the team.

Grading the Special Teams: