Why Oklahoma's Ongoing Kicking Problems Aren't Easily Solved

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s offense showed on Saturday that it’s going to have peaks and valleys. So did the Sooner defense.

That’s why it’s imperative that OU cleans up its field goal kicking.

Junior Zach Schmit missed two field goals in Saturday’s 31-29 victory over Central Florida — a 38-yarder and a 43-yarder. They were two makable kicks that would have turned a 2-point game into an 8-point game — and a much more comfortable finish than what unfolded Saturday afternoon, when UCF was trying to throw into the end zone for a game-tying 2-point conversion.

The Sooners prevailed to improve to 7-0 on the season and 4-0 in Big 12 Conference play, but three of their final five games will be played in hostile road environments. Points and defensive stops will be at a premium. Adequate kicking is paramount.

Schmit, who made just 12-of-18 field goals last year, including significant misses of important kicks in the fourth quarter of games the Sooners lost by 3 points, did not look confident or comfortable Saturday against UCF, and that showed in his two first-quarter misses. One came at the end of a six-play, 20-yard drive, while the other finished off a 12-play, 26-yard drive.

He's now 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) on the season and is 22-of-32 in his career (.687). head coach Brent Venables hit the transfer portal hard last season at just about every position, but didn't go after an experienced kicker.

Still, Venables declined to overreact.

“I got great confidence in Zach,” Venables said after the game. “A little rough patch. But I believe in him. I’ve seen him in practice, over and over and over, deliver.”

In a high-scoring era of football, offensive possessions that end without points might as well be turnovers. A missed kick can swing momentum from the team trying to score to the team that gets a defensive stop.

Schmit hasn’t missed an extra point in his career, but even those occasionally have gone through the uprights at an awkward angle or with an odd rotation. Schmit’s contact with the football, his approach, his plant foot, his follow-through — something seems off.

“He came back after two misses and made one,” Venables reminded of Schmit’s 25-yard chip-shot that he put through Saturday for a 17-17 tie at the halftime buzzer. “We’ve got to be more consistent there — same thing (as the offense and defense). There’s gonna be more tight games.”

Schmit missed a big kick two weeks ago against Texas as well, and the Sooner offense seemed determined to play the end of that game for a go-ahead touchdown rather than settling for a tying field goal.

If Venables and special teams analyst Jay Nunez do lose confidence in Schmit’s ability to make 3-pointers, the backups don’t have much experience.

Redshirt freshman Gavin Marshall has a big leg, but he’s played in two career games, with three kickoffs and two successful extra points. Third-year sophomore Redi Mustafaraj is a junior college transfer from Northeastern A&M, but he hasn’t kicked for the Sooners yet.

So not only does Schmit apparently show the goods in practice, but he’s the only one who has done it in games. That makes it hard for Venables to trust that someone else can do it if he’s never actually done it.

“I’ve got confidence that he’ll make them at the right time,” Venables said of Schmit. “ … Zach, I’ve still got great confidence in him.”

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