Tag: Josh Plaster

Can Oklahoma Sooners win ‘Beamer Ball’ battle vs. South Carolina?

The Sooners can’t afford to let “Beamer Ball” be their undoing this week.

The Oklahoma Sooners are 4-2 entering week eight of the 2024 college football season, and they’re 1-2 in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play. They’ll look to bounce back from last week’s tough loss against Texas at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday.

To say OU has struggled mightily on offense this season would be an understatement. While the defense has held up their end of the bargain, the Sooners haven’t been able to put points on the board.

The Gamecocks have had similar problems this year, although not as drastic. They boast an excellent defense, but an offense that has struggled at times to move the ball.

However, the third phase of the game of football will be very important this week, as special teams may come to Oklahoma’s aid in this contest, or be their demise.

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer knows more about special teams than just about any other coach in the country. His father, Frank Beamer, famously coached Virginia Tech to plenty of success with “Beamer Ball” and his son has followed in his footsteps. The Beamers are excellent on special teams, often earning their teams an edge in that department.

Shane Beamer actually coached at Oklahoma from 2018 to 2020 in a variety of roles (including special teams), before he got his current gig in Columbia. The Gamecocks nearly upset LSU early this season, and used a remarkable onside kick to come within a drive of defeating Alabama last week. South Carolina is a worthy opponent for the Sooners, especially on special teams, with the Oklahoma offense stuck in neutral (or park, or reverse).

Oklahoma head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] made special teams a point of emphasis this offseason, after the Sooners had far too many mistakes in that department in his first two years at the helm. Special teams analyst [autotag]Doug Deakin[/autotag] was hired away from San Diego State to replace Jay Nunez, who took a job at Alabama.

Through six games, OU hasn’t been remarkable on special teams, but the big mistakes that bit them last year haven’t shown up as much. But it’ll take everybody to win that battle against Beamer and the Gamecocks.

Punter [autotag]Luke Elzinga[/autotag] leads the way for this unit, as he’s had an excellent season. Time and time again, Elzinga has been counted upon to win the field position battle, and time and time again, he’s delivered. He hasn’t had a punt blocked, and he’s honestly one of Oklahoma’s best players, regardless of position. As OU continues to struggle on offense, but play well defensively, field position will be crucial.

The trio of kicker [autotag]Tyler Keltner[/autotag], holder [autotag]Josh Plaster[/autotag] and long snapper [autotag]Ben Anderson[/autotag] will have to be solid on field goals and extra points this week, as South Carolina will capitalize on any mistakes. Keltner has missed a couple of kicks this season, including one against Texas, but is still an improvement over what the position has seen the last couple of years. The Sooners also have not had a kick blocked.

OU’s kickoff specialist, [autotag]Zach Schmit[/autotag] (who stepped in nicely as the starter at kicker for Keltner against Auburn), can’t give the Gamecocks any un-earned opportunities either, as the Sooners defense needs all the help they can get.

If the Sooners could block a punt or a kick, that would be fantastic, but South Carolina doesn’t make many special teams errors. Oklahoma also will have to be careful they don’t give up a big return.

In the return game, Oklahoma hasn’t gotten anything substantial, though they are dealing with some injuries to their kickoff returners. Without Jalil Farooq and Deion Burks in the lineup, that duty has fallen to players like Billy Bowman, [autotag]Sam Franklin[/autotag], Gavin Sawchuk and Devon Jordan. Franklin seems to be the preferred option, but he is currently questionable for this game, as is Burks.

[autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] is the primary punt returner, with Bowman as a backup option. Bowen was excellent returning punts in high school, and has shown potential, but hasn’t gotten loose for a big play yet at the college level.

Lastly, OU will have to avoid special teams penalties, which has not exactly been a strength through six games.

That means being disciplined and paying attention to the little details in order to keep from making those errors. Whether it’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalties or procedure penalties, they simply can’t happen on special teams in any game, this one included. They’ll also need to keep the antenna up for momentum-shifting plays like onside kicks or fakes that can swing things in favor of South Carolina.

With his offense trying to find solutions at this point in the season, Venables will be looking for his special teams to out-duel “Beamer Ball” and help his defense come away with the win.

Oklahoma Sooners still looking for an answer at Kicker

Two players are battling to become the starting kicker for Oklahoma in 2024.

The Oklahoma Sooners released their first official depth chart of the 2024 season on Sunday evening, letting fans know the players who will start Week 1 against Temple.

One underrated position battle for head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] heading into Year 3 is at the kicker position. OU needs to be better on special teams this season, beginning with their success rate on field goals. Venables knows this will be doubly important with the Sooners entering the [autotag]SEC[/autotag], where the margin between failure and success is even smaller than what Oklahoma is used to.

In addition, OU is breaking in a new special teams analyst. [autotag]Jay Nunez[/autotag] is out and [autotag]Doug Deakin[/autotag] takes over after coming over from San Diego State. Venables and Deakin held a kicker competition this offseason, but with the release of the initial depth chart, it seems the spot still hasn’t been decided yet.

A pair of redshirt seniors, [autotag]Tyler Keltner[/autotag] and [autotag]Zach Schmit[/autotag], are battling for the right to be named Oklahoma’s starter. Keltner is the newcomer in the race after joining the Sooners via the portal this offseason. Schmit is the incumbent and is one of the longest-tenured players on the roster. He’s been the starter for each of the last two seasons.

At the other specialist positions, redshirt senior [autotag]Luke Elzinga[/autotag] will retain the starting punter job that he earned midway through last season. Redshirt sophomore [autotag]Ben Anderson[/autotag] will serve as the long-snapper, redshirt senior [autotag]Josh Plaster[/autotag] will be the holder and Schmit will retain his role as Oklahoma’s kickoff specialist.

Sophomore safety [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] gets the nod as OU’s punt returner, a move fans will be happy to see, as he was electric returning punts in high school. A pair of seniors, safety [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] and wide receiver [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag], will be the kickoff returners to begin the season. Oklahoma needs to be better in the kick return game this year than they were in 2023, as a couple of costly mistakes hurt the Sooners in their two regular season losses.

OU will begin their foray into the SEC on Friday night in Norman, as they’ll look to start strong against Temple. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m.

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Oklahoma punter Luke Elzinga named to Ray Guy Award Watch List

Oklahoma punter Luke Elzinga was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list.

The Oklahoma Sooners found their punter midway through the 2023 season as [autotag]Luke Elzinga[/autotag] took over for [autotag]Josh Plaster[/autotag] and never relinquished the job. Heading into 2024, he’s the lead punter for the Sooners and has a chance to earn some accolades.

On Friday, Elzinga was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list. The Ray Guy Award is given to the most outstanding punter in college football.

In 2023, Elzinga averaged 45.1 yards per punt, and 51.5% of his punts were downed inside the 20. Alabama’s James Burnip, who was Pro Football Focus’ highest graded punter, only had 42.3% of his punts downed inside the 20. Elzinga’s net of 40.8 yards per punt ranked No. 33 in the nation among punters with at least 19 attempts according to Pro Football Focus.

 

No Sooner has ever won the award named after the former All-American and All-Pro punter. If Elzinga can pick up where he left off in 2023, he’ll have a chance to bring home the schools first Ray Guy Award.

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Who has the leg up in Oklahoma’s kicker competition heading into fall camp?

Incoming kicker has a leg up in the competition entering fall camp.

The Oklahoma Sooners begin their 2024 season in a little over five weeks. Fall camp is right around the corner, when many position battles will be decided heading into the regular season.

Unlike in the pros, college football doesn’t have a preseason, so everything will be decided on the practice field before OU kicks off its season in Aug. 30.

One area Oklahoma is looking to improve upon is special teams after a tough 2023 in that department. While [autotag]Luke Elzinga[/autotag] solidified the punter’s job over the second half of the season, the kicker spot is another situation entirely.

[autotag]Zach Schmit[/autotag] has been OU’s starting kicker for each of the past two seasons. He’s been perfect on extra points, but he has struggled kicking field goals, especially long ones. In 2022, he went 12-for-18, converting just 66.7% of the time. Last season, Schmit went 15-for-21, hitting at a 71.4% clip. However, he missed two field goals against UCF that could have doomed the Sooners in a two-point win. He also had misses against Iowa State, Texas, Oklahoma State and BYU. Three of those four games were decided by one score. The [autotag]Bedlam[/autotag] loss, in particular, was a three-point margin.

Head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and new special teams analyst [autotag]Doug Deakin[/autotag] know the Sooners will have to be sharper on special teams exiting the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] and entering the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. Every phase of the game and every aspect of the program has to be operating in peak form to win in the SEC; that’s just the way it is in this conference.

Oklahoma went into the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] to get help at kicker this offseason, adding Florida State transfer [autotag]Tyler Keltner[/autotag]. He kicked just one extra point last year for the Seminoles, but was a four-year starter at East Tennessee State, making 75% of his field goals.

The Sooners also added a kicker to their [autotag]recruiting[/autotag] class, [autotag]Liam Evans[/autotag]. The true freshman reportedly has the biggest leg of the group and could represent the future at the position.

The kicker battle has been happening under the surface this offseason. SoonerScoop’s George Stoia shared from the OU Football Coaches Luncheon that Keltner is the favorite to win the job according to Venables.

Venables also mentioned Schmit will compete with Keltner in camp to remain the starter.

Whether Keltner continues to have the leg up or the incumbent Schmit takes back the job, the position can’t be the reason Oklahoma falters in one of the many close games they’re about to play in entering the SEC.

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Luke Elzinga offers possible solution to punting woes

Luke Elzinga is coming off a strong punting performance on Saturday but could he be the solution to Oklahoma’s punting problems?

The Oklahoma Sooners have been strong in many areas so far in the 2023 college football season. That’s helped lead to a 7-0 record and No. 6 ranking in the country.

But one of the areas in which Oklahoma has not been good has been the punting game. Even after a strong performance against the [autotag]UCF Knights[/autotag], the Sooners rank No. 66 in net punting, averaging 39.17 yards per punt.

The Sooners’ punting game nearly cost them the game in the Red River Rivalry. One punt was blocked and a couple of others weren’t great. So, the Sooners made a change at punter. Out went [autotag]Josh Plaster[/autotag], and in went [autotag]Luke Elzinga[/autotag].

The move paid dividends. Elzinga averaged 51.6 yards per punt with a long of 58 yards against UCF. He also pinned four of his five punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

He talked to reporters about how well it went last week.

“That went pretty well,” Elzinga said. “First start here. I’m just going to keep building, keep competing every day. It’s a competition every day between all of us. I’m happy with how it went. All of the snipers running down there, helping cover kicks. All of the protection and everything. Everyone just flat-out played well.”

Now, Elzinga has to keep stacking good performances like he just had, but it’s a great start to what could be the solution to Oklahoma’s punting woes.

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How did the Oklahoma Sooners grade out in their win over Cincinnati?

The Sooners earned a solid win on the road over a tough Cincinnati team. How did each position group grade out in this week’s report card?

The Oklahoma Sooners opened Big 12 play with a win that characterizes the growth of this team so far in 2023. It wasn’t a 48-45 game that we grew accustomed to during the Lincoln Riley era.

It was a 20-6 defensive battle where field position and run defense were the key components of the win.

This is what defensive football looks like. Don’t turn the ball over, run the ball, stop the run, win on third down, and win the field position battle.

The Oklahoma Sooners are taking on a new identity under Brent Venables, and while they didn’t light up the scoreboard vs. Cincinnati, they did what they needed to do to get a win on the road in a tough environment.

Here’s a look at this week’s report card.

Report Card: Defense flies high, offense stuck in a rut in 28-11 win over SMU

In our report card for Oklahoma’s performance against SMU, the defense leads the way with the highest marks.

The offense didn’t put its best foot forward in the Sooners 28-11 win over SMU. However, the defense kept Oklahoma in control until the Sooners were able to put together a couple of late scoring drives to seal the win.

Oklahoma knows it will have to play better as the season wears on. They’ll need to improve in all three phases to be in the mix for a Big 12 title berth in November. But for this game, it was enough.

Instead of a shootout, we got a game where neither team even scratched 40 points.

Here’s how each position group graded out in the 28-11 win over SMU.

Oklahoma Sooners need special teams units to be special

Oklahoma needs improvement from their special teams play if they want to be better in close games in 2023.

Specialists are the unsung heroes of a football team. They rarely get praised when they do their job at a high rate. Usually, the only time they are talked about is when things are going wrong.

The Sooners’ special teams were very up and down last season. They had some moments like the fake field goal run against Iowa State, or Jalil Farooq’s work in the return game. But they also had moments when their fakes didn’t work out or they allowed a long kick return after a momentum-gaining touchdown.

The one person who had a really good year in 2022 was punter Michael Turk. Turk was a special teams weapon, flipping the field for the Sooners.

The one negative you could say is he struggled with the shorter punts and pinning the opponents inside the 10. Outside of that, he was great.

The Sooners’ punt coverage team ranked No. 10 in the nation, in large part to Turk’s impressive hangtime.

Unfortunately, he’s off to the NFL. Replacing him will be difficult. Their answer might be a two-punter system for 2023.

Josh Plaster will handle the majority of the punting duties. Central Michigan transfer Luke Elzinga could be the one who handles the close-range punts.

Elzinga was third-team All-MAC in 2022 after averaging 42.2 yards per punt, which ranked third in the conference. He also pinned 22 punts inside the 20.

As for the kicking duties, the Sooners return Zach Schmit after he had an up-and-down season, much like the team as a whole.

He was 12-of-18 on field goals with a long of 46 yards. He did make all of his extra points and scored one touchdown. On kickoffs, he had 58 touchbacks on 79 attempts. He needs to be better in the kicking game to help the Sooners reach their goals this season.

When he didn’t kick it out of the endzone, the return team didn’t help him out much. The Sooners finished No. 123 in the nation in kick return defense, allowing nearly 25 yards per return.

They also need to improve in the return game. The Sooners ranked 70th in the nation in average yards per kick return but they finished 12th in punt return yards per return.

The punt return game with Marvin Mims was really good early in the season but fell off in the second half of the year.

As for the kickoff return, the returners changed throughout the year. Billy Bowman was probably their best return man early in the year, but as we saw last season, the Sooners can’t afford to lose him to injury, especially on a kickoff return. Farooq provided a spark in the kick return game, averaging 22.9 yards per return. His ability to run with the ball makes him a dangerous returner.

It’ll be interesting to see who they end up going with to return kicks or if they go with a more conservative approach and fair catch a lot of attempts. Brent Venables has preached aggression, so I doubt that’s the approach they’ll take.

Special teams can be the key to the outcome of a game. The importance of this unit might be getting overlooked a bit heading into fall camp. However, like other areas on the team, there’s a level of uncertainty surrounding the special teams department.

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‘The best of the best, they just get in the fight’: 5 Sooners placed on scholarship Monday

Watch as Brent Venables puts 5 Oklahoma Sooners on scholarship on Monday.

One of the coolest things in college sports is the promotion of a walk-on player to a scholarship student-athlete. Those scholarships can be given out for various reasons, but the moment is special nonetheless.

And on Monday, the Oklahoma Sooners honored five players with scholarships. Zach Schmit, Gavin Freeman, Josh Plaster, Major Melson, and Pierce Hudgens were placed on scholarship.

“Know how hard you work, all right.” Brent Venables said after announcing their scholarship status. You’re willing to get in the fight and not worry about what the result is. You will live with the result. ‘I just want to get in the fight,’ okay. And that’s what it’s all about. Not only if you can promise me a certain level of success. The best of the best, they just get in the fight because that’s what’s in their DNA. That’s what’s inside.”

In the summer, Gavin Freeman’s name popped as one of the players making noise for playing time. And it didn’t take long for him to make a splash in his Sooners’ career. On his first career touch, in the season opener against UTEP, Freeman took an end around and raced around the right side and down the field for a 46-yard touchdown. Later in the season against Kansas, he made a diving catch against Kansas for a 41-yard game. He wouldn’t get a ton of opportunities throughout the season, but he made the most of them.

Zach Schmit took over placekicking duties in the 2022 season after Gabe Brkic’s departure. Schmit was perfect on extra point attempts and went 12 of 18 on field goal opportunities.

Out of Flower Mound, Texas, Josh Plaster came to the Sooners a couple of offseasons ago after spending a year at Arizona State. He’s yet to kick at the collegiate level.

Pierce Hudgens worked his way into a role as a special teams player last season and appeared in four games. He was an Academic All-Big 12 first team selection last season.

Major Melson has yet to appear in a game for the Sooners, but as Venables mentioned, it’s not about the result.

In this moment, Brent Venables is highlighting the work ethic put in by these five individuals. And you can tell how special it is by the reaction of their teammates.

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Sooners add Central Michigan transfer punter Luke Elzinga

The Oklahoma Sooners dipped back into the transfer portal, adding Central Michigan punter Luke Elzinga.

As Michael Turk prepares for an NFL future, the Oklahoma Sooners went back to the transfer portal well for their next punter. To replace Turk, who the Sooners added in the portal from Arizona State, Oklahoma’s adding Central Michigan punter Luke Elzinga.

In three seasons with the Chippewas, Elzinga punted the ball 145 times and averaged 43 yards per punt. He was the highest graded punter in the MAC according to Pro Football Focus on 55 attempts in 2022.

He led the MAC in net punt average at 40.1 yards per attempt and hang-time at 3.9 seconds per punt. Elzinga was third in the MAC in punts downed inside the 20 with 25.

Elzinga also threw one pass for 20 yards in 2022 on a fake field goal attempt. That was an element of Michael Turk’s game that showed up in 2022 and was very effective for the Sooners. Elzinga’s ability to throw the ball could provide special teams coordinator Jay Nunez with some intriguing fake field goal and punt options in 2023.

The former All-MAC punter joins a competition that includes Arizona State transfer Josh Plaster and redshirt freshman Brady Braun.

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