How Punter Luke Elzinga Has Emerged as a Bright Spot for Oklahoma

After taking over punting duties late year, Elzinga has stood out this season as the Sooners struggle in other phases.

Oklahoma Sooners punter Luke Elzinga / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Oklahoma punter Luke Elzinga is just doing what he’s always done. 

In a 4-2 season where the Sooners’ offense is lackluster and the defense has started to break more than bend, Elzinga has emerged as a bright spot on OU’s roster. He has stood out so much recently, that when OU coach Brent Venables got his short 10-minute segment on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday, Elzinga was one of the few topics Venables was asked about. 

“Once he started punting for us, he had a great year,” Venables said. “I think it's more noticeable for everybody now. He's got a first half of the season, he's done what he did the back half of the season for us a year ago.” 

After primarily being used in short-field situations the first six games last year, Elzinga eventually took full control of OU’s punting duties in the second half of the season. He averaged 45.1 yards a punt and downed 13 inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. 

This season through six games, Elzinga is averaging 46.14 yards a punt and has already surpassed last year’s total of punts downed inside the 20 with 16. He pinned Texas inside its own 20 three times last week, keeping the game from getting even more out of hand than it already was. In a close game against Houston in Week 2, he dropped five punts inside the 20, ultimately an unsung difference as the defense held the Cougars to 12 points in a 16-12 win. 

Halfway through 2024, Elzinga is more valuable than ever as the Sooners prepare to host South Carolina at 11:45 a.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

“His ability to punt inside plus territory right there around the 50, his ability to pin people, consistently placing the ball inside the 20, inside the 10, the fundamentals and the technique to go along with it, so when the ball hits, it hits right, and then our cover guys have been, we're a year older for the most part, they're doing a great job at working together with him,” Venables said. “And so those two things combined, experience returning, along with his ability to flip the field when we're in minus territory, or again, right there around the 50 his ability to pin people inside the 20, inside the 10, has been tremendous for us from a field-position standpoint.”

A redshirt senior listed at an impressive 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds as a punter, Elzinga transferred to OU before last season after four years at Central Michigan. He was an All-MAC honoree all three seasons he punted for the Chippewas. 

“Last year, kind of getting my feet wet a little bit was nice,” Elzinga said before that impressive outing against Houston. “But this year I feel a lot more comfortable, a lot more just stable going out there. The nerves have kind of – I’ve been doing it for awhile – so the nerves have definitely gone down. But everybody’s on the same page. We’re just a tight-knit group of guys working well together and trying to get better every day, but it’s been great so far and it’s only gonna get better.”