Recruiting ROI, No, 14: Gabe Brkic
Every Tuesday and Thursday, SI Sooners will unveil a new installment in the Recruiting ROI series. Over the course of 10 weeks, the series will examine 20 Sooners over the last 20 years who dramatically exceeded expectations in the crimson and cream.
Lost in the buzz surrounding the Sooners' 2018 recruiting class was the addition of a skinny special-teamer from Chardon, OH.
As Oklahoma brought home a haul of elite prospects like Jalen Redmond, Brendan Radley-Hiles, Ronnie Perkins and Brey Walker, nobody paid much attention to a 6-foot-3, 175-pound placekicker commit named Gabe Brkic.
After all, the Sooners already had future pro Austin Seibert, who would eventually become the school's all-time leading scorer. Waiting in the wings was Calum Sutherland, who figured to claim the starting job upon Seibert's graduation.
At best, Brkic projected as a kickoff specialist who might handle punting duties as well. He redshirted as a freshman in 2018, appearing in one game and recording one extra-point attempt, which he converted. Seibert served as the placekicker and punter for the duration of the season.
Come 2019, it was Sutherland who emerged from fall camp as the starting kicker, and Reeves Mundschau as the starting punter. But Sutherland got off to a rocky start, as he missed both his field goal attempts in Oklahoma's opener against Houston.
Then, a few weeks later, things got even more rocky, as Sutherland was arrested by Norman police over the Sooners' bye week. The redshirt sophomore faced allegations of domestic assault, and Lincoln Riley responded by suspending him from the team indefinitely. He wouldn't wear the crimson and cream ever again, and eventually entered the transfer portal.
Just like that, it was Brkic's time.
Most everyone knew the Ohio kid had a strong leg, but few could have foreseen the stunning display of precision that Brkic would unleash.
Despite the fact that he didn't attempt a kick in the Sooners' first three games of 2019, Brkic racked up 103 points on the season. He went 17-for-17 on field goals and 52-for-52 on extra points. He tied a single-game school record by converting four field goals against Kansas State on Oct. 26, including a career-long 50-yarder. And no one will soon forget his 31-yard kick to cap off the fabled Miracle at McLane, as the Sooners erased a 28-3 deficit to topple Baylor 34-31 in Waco.
It's fairly obvious that Brkic had the most successful season at the kicker position in Sooner history. But let's take this a step further: was it the greatest year we've ever seen from a kicker at the collegiate level?
Per SportsReference's data, which stretches back to 1956, fifteen other kickers have recorded a season field goal success rate of 100 percent (minimum 12 attempts). But let's narrow this field to identify the true "perfect" seasons, in which a kicker converted all of his field goal tries and extra point attempts. With those qualifiers in place, the field narrows to four kickers: North Carolina State's Marc Primanti in 1996, Memphis' Ryan White in 1998, North Carolina State's Danny Deskevich in 1998, and Brkic.
Deskevich is an interesting case, as the 1998 season was the only year of college football that he played. The former soccer player walked on to the Wolfpack squad as a senior, and began the year third on the depth chart. After an injury to the starter and ineffectiveness from the second-stringer, Deskevich took over and made all 12 field goals and all 29 extra points he attempted in the regular season. However, he did misfire in NC State's bowl game, and his range was extremely limited - according to this article from November 1998, Deskevich couldn't hit from beyond 42 yards.
Meanwhile, White's redshirt freshman season, in which he went 16-for-16 on field goals and 22-for-22 on extra points, proved to be a fluke of spectacular proportions. Over his next three seasons at Memphis, his field-goal conversion rate was 65 percent, capped off by a shaky 8-for-14 senior year.
Primanti has the most legitimate case to challenge Brkic, as he was named an All-American after a standout senior season in 1996. On the year, he nailed 20 field goals and 24 PAT's without a miss, accruing 84 points. Primanti also won the Groza Award, which begs the question: why didn't Brkic even make the final cut for the Groza after a season in which he converted 69 total kicks?
Though Sooner Nation raised an outcry at Brkic's obvious snub, the young kicker expressed that it wasn't difficult for him to let it slide.
"Individual awards are good and all, but I try not to let that catch up to me," Brkic said. "I'm here to win a natty."
It's remarkable enough that Brkic was even in the conversation after just 11 games as placekicker. His meteoric rise and unwavering accuracy have made him a fan favorite, as has his eccentric personality. His lighthearted, near-ridiculous demeanor never ceases to amaze his teammates — in fact, holder Connor McGinnis claimed that Brkic jokes about every attempt as if he's kicking to decide a national championship.
"It doesn't matter if he's kicking an extra point or a 50-yarder in a really tight game," McGinnis said. "He's collected all the time."
Brkic's 17 consecutive made field goals are already a school record, and he figures to extend the mark once the 2020 season rolls around. So in an age where consistent kicking is increasingly hard to come by, what's the secret sauce for Brkic?
His formula is pretty simple, at least in his own mind.
"I approach every kick the same, just be happy, go out there and do my thing and not think too much about it," Brkic said back in December before the Peach Bowl. "It feels good to be in my shoes right now."
At one of the most highly scrutinized positions in football, Brkic has provided an unprecedented degree of reliability for the Sooners. And Groza or no Groza, there's still a real chance that at some point, Brkic will line up for that national championship kick he jokes about.
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