Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma Special Teams Unit Is the Sooners’ X-Factor

By Chip Rouse

Apr 9, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners kicker Austin Seibert (43) attempts a field goal during the first half of the spring game at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 9, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners kicker Austin Seibert (43) attempts a field goal during the first half of the spring game at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Isn’t wasn’t too many years ago that the Oklahoma special teams performance was painful and, far too frequently, costly to watch.

Nov 28, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Alex Ross (28) runs ahead of Oklahoma State Cowboys defense during the first half at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Alex Ross (28) runs ahead of Oklahoma State Cowboys defense during the first half at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports /

The Sooners had to resort to a walk-on to reach any kind of consistency in field goal attempts, and you held your breath every time Oklahoma kicked off for fear that the return man would find a seam and run it all the way back for a quick-strike six points.

Of course, special teams is much more than kicking field goals kicking off. You also have punting and the punt coverage unit, kickoffs and the kickoff coverage unit, and the punt return unit.

The Sooners have some adjustments to make in 2016 after losing their top kick-return and punt return specialists as well as their No. 1 placekicker on kickoffs. Gone are Alex Ross, who in 2014 led the Big 12 in kickoff return yardage, and Sterling Shepard, who in addition to being the teams leading pass receiver the past couple of seasons also returned punts for the Sooners.

Ross transferred to Missouri for his final season of eligibility and Shepard graduated and is a rookie with the New York Giants in the NFL. Neither had a particularly stellar 2015 season, however, so the Sooners should be able to find talented replacements from a well-stocked group of sure-handed speed demons. Don’t be surprised to see Joe Mixon and Daniel Brooks handling some of the kick-return duties this season.

Oklahoma is set, however, in the punting and field-goal areas with the return of Austin Seibert for his second collegiate season. Seibert hit 18 of 23 field-goal attempts last season and averaged 42 yards per punt, just two yards shy of Tress Way (2009-12),  considered to be to best punter in OU football history.

Seibert may also take over some of the kickoff duties for the Sooners in 2016. One of the key factors in Oklahoma’s ability to limit long kickoff returns the past couple of season was the big leg of Nick Hodgson, who in 2015 alone recorded 52 touchbacks on 102 kickoffs.

Bob Stoops and his OU coaching staff will be looking for someone who can consistently get the ball to the end zone on kickoffs.

Assistant coach Jay Boulware is in his fourth season as the Sooners’ special teams coordinator again has a strong roster from which to assemble one of the best special teams units in the Big 12, if not the entire country.

Phil Steele, one of the most widely followed analytical minds in the college game, rates Oklahoma as having the fifth-best special teams group in college football heading into the 2016 season. Better than Alabama, Clemson, Florida State and Ohio State, four teams that, along with the Sooners, are expected to battle for one of the four spots in this season’s College Football Playoff.

With as many as five or six games this season against ranked teams, special teams play is likely to be a determining factor for the Sooners on more than a couple of football Saturdays in 2016.

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