Ambiguity Swirls Oklahoma Kicker Battle Inside 10 Days From Season-Opener

NORMAN — Do you know who’s starting at kicker for the Oklahoma Sooners next Friday? If so, pass that information along to Brent Venables’ office.

By Tuesday night, the competition pitting incumbent Zach Schmit against Florida State transfer Tyler Keltner had yielded no more clarity than it did when Keltner arrived in Norman during the spring. All Venables revealed Tuesday was that it had trimmed to the two — no mention of freshman sensation Liam Evans, who was a Kohl’s Kicking 5-star.

“[I] love where we’re at in the kicking game right now,” Venables told media near Memorial Stadium’s south end zone. “Still have a battle there with our placekickers. That’ll go through the end of this week and then we’ll make a decision. Really feel like we would need both guys potentially this season. Zach’s got a really big leg, and he’s really good at the kickoffs. . . Liam Evans has done some good things there.”

SoonerScoop’s George Stoia reported that Venables called Keltner the “odds on favorite” to win the job four weeks ago. It isn’t clear if that has changed.

Schmit hit 15-of-21 field goals last year (71.4 percent), good for sixth best in the Big 12, and hit a long of 46 yards. Fifty of his 93 kickoffs resulted touchbacks. His running streak of 124 made extra point attempts ranks fifth in program history. But — his struggles to connect on crucial kicks prompted the Sooners’ staff to bring on Keltner, a fifth-year senior who cut his teeth at the FCS level for four years, earned first team All-SoCon nods at East Tennessee State each of his last two seasons, then moved home to Tallahassee to back up Ryan Fitzgerald at Florida State.

“The competition will help bring out the best in everybody is my expectation, so Tyler Keltner and Liam Evans will have a chance to come in here and make us better that way,” Venables said in March.

The Sooners open the season Friday, Aug. 30 against Temple. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. If the Sooners kick first, it will likely be by Schmit’s leg. Keltner could be the field goal guy. Oklahoma fans could see a different specialist starting at kickoff, field goal and punt for the first time since Nick Hodgson, Michael Hunnicut and Jed Barnett split duties in 2014. Luke Elzinga appears to be Venables’ Week 1 starter.

In the April 20 Spring Game, Keltner missed his lone attempt from 44 and Schmit hit his only try from 29. All three kickers were 2-of-2 on touchbacks and 2-of-2 on PATs. 

Special teams analyst Doug Deakin will be able to coach both at practice and from the sideline under the NCAA’s new rules. Should either kicker struggle — or both — Deakin will be able to consult players directly and make a switch should it become necessary.

“It gives you a chance to really make some improvement in the areas that you need to,” Venables said. “But that’s been a lot of fun. Doug’s incredibly passionate, high energy, really smart, great teacher, inspires and motivates as good as any coach as I’ve been around. The players have tremendous respect for him and he’s just a really effective communicator. So I expect us to improve from where we were.”