Tag: Zach Schmit

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.

Report Card: Sooners breeze through Arkansas State with big-time performances

The Oklahoma Sooners were fantastic in their win over Arkansas State, but how did they grade in this week’s Report Card?

Saturday allowed us to see team 129 in Oklahoma’s illustrious football history for the first time this season. This team entered the day with cautious optimism, but a cloud of last season’s disappointment still hungover over the program. Year two of Brent Venables’s tenure needed to start off with a bang, and his team did just that as they dismantled the Arkansas State Red Wolves 73-0.

The Sooners are on another level regarding raw talent than the Arkansas State Red Wolves. That is abundantly clear, but Oklahoma had to show it could dominate an inferior opponent. They also needed to showcase the improvements in recruiting and among their returning players.

Saturday was a fun, stress-free showcase of domination. Now that the first game is behind us, it’s time to dive deeper and hand out our first grades of the year in this week’s report card.

No Sooners make Pro Football Focus’ All-Big 12 first team

Zero Sooners were included among Pro Football Focus’ All-Big 12 teams, but several made the second and third team.

It’s almost that time of the year for fall camps, which means preseason All-Big 12 teams are being selected by national publications.

The latest comes from Pro Football Focus. No Sooners made the first team, but several made the second and third teams.

The second team members were [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag], [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag], [autotag]Rondell Bothroyd[/autotag], [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] and [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag].

The third team members were [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] and [autotag]Zach Schmit[/autotag].

After a season like 2022, having zero first-team members should be expected. But if the Sooners have the bounce-back year many expect, Oklahoma should get more recognition after the season.

[autotag]Tyler Guyton[/autotag], [autotag]Dasan McCullough[/autotag], and [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] are players to watch this season. Each player could find themselves on the end-of-the-season list. Another guy to watch out for is R Mason Thomas. He has the unique skills to have a breakout season.

By season’s end, Stustman, Gabriel, and Bowman have a great chance to earn first-team honors.

Most preseason all-conference teams aren’t going to be kind to the Sooners. However, as long as the product on the field is better, there will be plenty of Sooners receiving postseason awards in 2023.

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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 fake field goal Fox College Football’s ‘top video of 2022’

Oklahoma’s fake field goal against Iowa State Fox College Football’s top video of 2022.

Oklahoma’s special teams’ players Michael Turk and Zach Schmit had an impact beyond what they did with their legs in 2022. Multiple times the two connected for fake field goal attempts that were big plays in the game.

That was true when the Sooners took on the No. 1 defense in the Big 12, the Iowa State Cyclones.

In a 3-3 deadlock early in the second quarter, the Sooners had driven 84 yards to the Cyclones’ one-yard line. On 3rd and goal, Eric Gray was dropped for a one-yard loss setting up 4th and goal from the two-yard line.

On the fourth down play, the Sooners lined up for a field goal. On the snap, Turk flipped the ball to Schmit, who darted through a perfectly blocked-up Cyclones defense for the touchdown. The Sooners went on to win the game 27-13 in Ames.

Michael Turk will be heading to the NFL after two strong years in Norman, where he became a field position weapon. His ability as a holder provides even more value to NFL teams. His athleticism and ability to handle the football will create interesting opportunities for special teams coaches that want to get creative.

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Report Card: Sooners defense can’t hold up in finale vs. Texas Tech

Oklahoma’s defense was unable to get stops at the end as the Sooners fell 51-48 to Texas Tech. From @thatmanbryant

With an opportunity to solidify themselves above .500, Oklahoma traveled to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Texas Tech Raiders. Texas Tech took the first couple of punches from the Sooners on the chin before fighting their way back into the game. The game would eventually go to overtime, where a missed Zach Schmit field goal would lead to Texas Tech kicking the game-winner for a 51-48 victory to leave the Sooners at 6-6 for the regular season.

It was far from a horrible performance for the team as a whole, but it followed a similar script we’ve seen too many times this year. Oklahoma came out on fire before they eased up and let the other team back in the game.

The offense did a magnificent job from the opening snap, while the defense and special teams left a bit to be desired.

Here’s our report card from the Sooners’ loss to Texas Tech.

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Oklahoma Sooners fall to the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown 23-20

Oklahoma Sooners struggle in the fourth quarter and fall 23-20 to the West Virginia Mountaineers on Casey Legg’s last-second field goal. From @bendackiw

Brent Venables’ defense appeared to have finally turned the corner. The West Virginia Mountaineers’ running game had nowhere to go, and J.T. Daniels wasn’t hitting his receivers. For once, it was the defense keeping the Sooners in the game.

Then Daniels was benched in favor of Garrett Greene. Though Oklahoma contained him early, Greene and the West Virginia offense found their footing late in the third quarter and took control of the game. The Mountaineers won the game 23-20 on a game-winning field goal as time expired off the foot of Casey Legg.

Daniels isn’t very mobile, while Greene is a legit dual-threat quarterback. That’s something the Sooners have struggled with all season. All of a sudden, the Mountaineer rushing attack was gaining ground, and the Sooners struggled to make stops consistently.

Greene gashed the Sooners on the ground. He led the Mountaineers with 119 rushing yards and 138 passing yards. Prior to his exit, Daniels had 65 total yards.

Greene and the Mountaineers started to turn a corner on a drive that spanned the end of the fourth until around the 11-minute mark of the fourth quarter. The Sooners had few answers for the Mountaineers’ offensive attack who were beginning to hit plays in the passing game. Late in the drive, the Sooners looked to have West Virginia right where they wanted them on fourth and long.

With the Mountaineers facing 4th and 15, they decided to go for it, they got Oklahoma to jump offsides providing Garrett Greene a free play. He took a shot to the end zone and badly overthrew his receiver. Cornerback C.J. Coldon took advantage and tracked the ball well, picking it off in the back corner of the end zone. That deep in the end zone, Coldon did the only thing he knew to do, and that was kneeling on the ball. As he had given himself up, a West Virginia wide receiver came in and delivered a shot to the head, which was immediately flagged for a personal foul. After a conference among the officials, they picked up the flag and gave West Virginia the five yards on the offsides call.

The Mountaineers were able to pick up the 4th and 10 and ultimately scored on the drive to tie it up.

The Sooners and Mountaineers traded three and outs, and then Oklahoma looked to be getting somewhere offensively on four-straight runs to Eric Gray. But after a pair of Jovantae Barnes carries set up 3rd and 3, Gray was stuffed for no gain, and Oklahoma elected to kick a field goal. Zach Schmit missed his second field goal of the day, and West Virginia took over at their own 29-yard line.

The Mountaineers proceeded to kill the clock to set up their game-winning field goal on a 15-play drive that spanned the final 6:25 of the game. After a solid first three quarters, the Oklahoma defense struggled in the fourth quarter and the offense was shutout down the stretch.

Speaking of the offense, it was the same story different day. The Sooners once again lost the time of possession battle. West Virginia controlled the ball for just over 37 minutes of game time. The Sooners were just 1 of 11 on third down and failed on both fourth down attempts.

Dillon Gabriel and the passing attack couldn’t take advantage of the 118th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers’ pass defense as he struggled with downfield accuracy and, when he was on target, didn’t get much help from his receivers. Marvin Mims had another drop on what would have been a walk-in touchdown for the Sooners.

Eric Gray, once again, was the best player on offense for Oklahoma. He was asked to carry the workload, and he did just that with 211 yards on 25 carries. Gray found the end zone twice and was the only Sooner on offense to find the end zone all day.

Once again, undisciplined play plagued the Sooners. Untimely presnap penalties were a cause of their ultimate demise.

The Sooners fall to 5-5 on the season and are 2-5 in the Big 12 as they get set to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Norman.

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Oklahoma Sooners mauled by Baylor Bears rushing attack in 38-35 loss

Oklahoma Sooners struggled to slow down the Baylor Bears rushing attack and fall 38-35. From @john9williams

The Oklahoma Sooners’ defense allowed Baylor to run for 281 yards rushing, including 114 yards rushing in the fourth quarter, and the Bears took advantage of three Dillon Gabriel interceptions to beat the Sooners 38-35.

Oklahoma drops to 5-4 on the season, and Baylor improved to 6-3 and 4-2 in the Big 12 to stay in the conference title race.

After a strong start offensively, it was a frustrating end as the Sooners had no answers for Baylor’s run game on the final two drives of the game. Early in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma punted from midfield and looked to have the Bears downed at the 2-yard line, but an official overruled the initial call and ruled it a touchback. Baylor proceeded to go on an 11-play, 80-yard drive to make it 38-28 with 9:15 remaining in the game.

The Sooners responded with a touchdown of their own but left just 4:05 on the clock. The Bears running game would go to work again, pounding the Sooners’ defensive front, and on a third and three, Craig “Squirrel” Williams picked up 43 yards to the Sooners’ seven-yard line before sliding so that Baylor could kneel on the ball and run out the clock.

Williams ran for 192 yards rushing and averaged 7.7 yards per carry in his return from injury.

Oklahoma opened the game with a 10-play 75-yard touchdown drive where Dillon Gabriel was efficient in the passing game and used his legs to pick up big yardage on the ground. After Baylor responded with 14 unanswered points, Gabriel hit Marvin Mims for a 63-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14.

The Sooners had a chance to take the lead at the end of the half, but an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty forced Zach Schmit to kick a 55-yard field goal, which he missed.

Mental miscues and turnovers sunk Oklahoma in a game where they had chances to take the lead despite the performance of the defense.

Gabriel finished the day 22 of 34 for 261 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. The first two interceptions led to 10 points, three of which came on a pick that could have been called back due to defensive pass interference.

Ultimately, Oklahoma’s defense struggled down the stretch as the Bears leaned on their offensive line and running game to close out the contest.

Dillon Gabriel also ran for 70 yards on nine carries and Marvin Mims had four receptions for 120 yards.

But Eric Gray was the story of the day for the Sooners offense. He ran tough and was decisive, picking up 106 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries and added eight receptions for 58 yards to give the Sooners a strong and steady performance. The Baylor Bears had only allowed 113 rushing yards per game on the day.

With the loss, Oklahoma falls to 5-4 on the season and 2-4 in Big 12 play ahead of a big road trip to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Mountaineers put up over 200 yards rushing on the Bears just a few weeks ago, so this will be another tough test for the Sooners.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.