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    Oklahoma 2023 Report Cards: Special Teams Were Cause for Concern After Season Opener

    The Sooners' specialists struggled in multiple aspects this season as fumbles and missed field goals plaguing the group.

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    Oklahoma Sooners
    Oklahoma Sooners

    After Lincoln Riley decided not to hire a special team’s coach, Oklahoma fans figured the Sooners’ specialists would improve under Jay Nunez.

    Serving as OU’s Senior Special Teams Analyst, many thought that having a coach designated to special teams would help the players develop their specialist skills. In 2023, however, Oklahoma’s group struggled in multiple aspects, severely hurting the team at different points throughout the season.

    Against Kansas, the Jayhawks booted a shallow kickoff right into the hands of edge rusher Marcus Stripling, who was serving as a blocker on the kickoff return team. Stripling attempted to make a fair catch, but the ball ricocheted off his chest and onto the field, where a member of the Jayhawks' kickoff coverage team recovered.

    In Oklahoma’s final Bedlam matchup, backup punt returner LV Bunkley-Shelton muffed a punt but was able to recover the live ball. And usually steady return man Gavin Freeman lost or bobbled three punts down the stretch.

    While these plays are not a full encapsulation of how the Sooners’ season went on special teams, they are good indicators of how sloppy Nunez’s group became in 2023.

    Luke Elzinga

    Luke Elzinga

    Freeman was one of the team’s most notable players on special teams, as the local speedster served as OU’s primary punt returner this season. In Oklahoma’s opener against Arkansas State, Freeman returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown, dazzling fans with his quickness and elusiveness.

    After his Week 1 score, however, Freeman struggled as a punt returner.

    The Heritage Hall (OK) alum finished the season with a total of 122 return yards, muffing three punts in his 18 attempts.

    Against TCU, the Horned Frogs were given great field position after Freeman let a punt hit the grass, allowing Sonny Dykes' team to score and get back into what should have been a blowout. Against West Virginia, Freeman dropped two punts but was able to fall on one.

    The local product played 75 special teams snaps this year with 55 coming in punt return situations. Freeman finished the season with a 58.8 special teams grade and a 55.1 punt return grade, according to Pro Football Focus.

    2023 Oklahoma Report Cards

    Jalil Farooq, another Sooners’ wideout, served as OU’s primary kick returner in 2023, tallying 422 kick return yards in 19 return attempts. While Farooq was a decent return man, he didn’t make any game-changing plays from his role on the special teams.

    Against Tulsa, Farooq managed a good return on the opening kickoff before the ball was ripped loose at the end of his run, leading to the Golden Hurricane recovering the fumble. Overall, Farooq played 67 special teams snaps with 66 coming as a kick returner. The junior wide receiver earned a 59.2 kick return grade from PFF for his efforts in 2023.

    Aside from the Sooners’ return men, many observers believed the team should have made a change at kicker at some point throughout the season. In multiple midweek press conferences, Brent Venables was even asked about the team’s kicker depth, and said backup placekicker Gavin Marshall was dealing with an injury.

    When looking at Zach Schmit’s raw numbers, the local product didn’t appear to have a bad season. The redshirt junior went 67-for-67 on extra points and 15-for-21 on field goal attempts in 2023.

    A college kicker making 71.4 percent of his field goals isn’t a bad rate, but the difficulty and timing of Schmit’s misses are what caused Sooner Nation to lose faith in their team’s kicker. Schmit missed easy field goals against both Texas and Oklahoma State, that directly impacted the outcome of the game.

    While OU was still able to overcome the Longhorns in Dallas, Schmit shorted a 45-yard field goal that would have given the Sooners’ a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.

    Against the Cowboys, Schmit missed a 51-yard field goal that would have tied the game at 17 late in the second quarter. In addition to his ill-timed misses, Schmit’s accuracy issues caused Venables and company to leave the offense on the field in multiple situations where the team could have kicked a field goal.

    Despite his struggles in crunch time, Schmit finished the season with a 79.6 kickoff grade and a 73.8 field goal kicking grade, per PFF. The redshirt junior from Oklahoma City tallied 182 special teams snaps in 2023 and will likely compete for the starting kicker job next season with Marshall, Florida State transfer Tyler Keltner and incoming freshman Liam Evans from Moore (OK).

    Josh Plaster and Luke Elzinga split time as Oklahoma’s punters this season, with Plaster starting early in the season and Elzinga taking over after the Red River Rivalry. Plaster punted 14 times for 564 yards, tallying a 40.3-yard average, and Elzinga punted 27 times for 1,217 yards, notching a 45.1-yard average.

    Following Elzinga earning the starting punter spot, Plaster still saw time on the field as the Sooners’ holder. In 2023, Plaster earned a 56.6 punter grade and 47.9 special teams grade from PFF in 105 special teams snaps.

    After transferring to OU from Central Michigan over the offseason, Elzinga finished the season with a 66.3 punting grade in 29 special teams snaps in 2023.

    AllSooners Special Teams Grades

    • Hoover: C+
    • Chapman: C-
    • Sweet: C
    • Lovelace: D-
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