Oklahoma Freshman Trace Rudd Provides Sooners With Future Stability in Kicking Game

Trace Rudd likely won't see the field during his first season with the Sooners, but the freshman has already impressed Brent Venables and Jim Nagy.

Oklahoma kicker Trace Rudd prepares to kick in the spring game. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

NORMAN — Trace Rudd went 0-for-1 on field-goal attempts in Oklahoma’s spring game on April 18.

But his miss was more impressive than just about any other failed attempt.

Rudd, a kicker who signed with Oklahoma in December as part of its 2026 recruiting class, was called upon to attempt a 58-yard field goal in the fourth quarter of the Sooners’ intrasquad scrimmage. Undaunted, Rudd booted the attempt and it hurled at a straight line toward the middle of the crossbar. 

Rudd’s attempt was on line, but it ultimately fell a yard or two short. The kick was into the fairly strong winds at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium that day and almost certainly would have been good on a still day.

Though Rudd didn’t convert, the attempt showed that OU coach Brent Venables’ praise for the young kicker on signing day was warranted.

“A guy we feel is the best kicker in the country out of high school,” Venables said in December. “We had him at camp this summer, and the ball just exploded off his foot.”

Kohl’s Kicking graded Rudd as a 5-star prospect, while Rivals, ESPN and 247Sports had him as a 3-star recruit.

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During his senior year at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, KS, Rudd earned first-team All-Eastern Kansas League honors and made a field-goal attempt from 52 yards out. In 2024, his junior season, Rudd connected on five of his seven field-goal tries with a long of 48 yards, and he converted on 44 of his 47 attempts on extra points.

Despite his high school success and his high recruiting rankings, Rudd might be the least likely candidate for Year 1 playing time of the 25 players who signed with Oklahoma from the Class of 2026.

Transfer kicker Tate Sandell won the Lou Groza Award in his first season at Oklahoma, making 24 of his 27 field-goal attempts. The kicker went 8-of-9 on attempts longer than 50 yards and set the single-season SEC record for consecutive made field goals with 24.

Sandell had the opportunity to go to the NFL after his stellar season, but he opted to spend one more year in Norman.

There isn’t a position battle at kicker heading into the fall. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Sandell will be OU’s starter throughout the 2026 season.

But Sandell only has one year of college eligibility remaining, and Venables believes Rudd has the potential to one day be similarly stellar.

“He’s got a lot of the qualities that our current kicker does in regards to his confidence and his toughness,” Venables said.

Sandell became Oklahoma’s first-ever Groza winner last year. And because of that, OU general manager Jim Nagy said that he “set the bar pretty high” when it comes to kickers going forward.

But Nagy echoes much of what Venables believes about Rudd.

“Trace is wired,” Nagy said in December. “They’re really similar guys when you’re around Trace and you’re around (Sandell).”