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Oklahoma Punter Luke Elzinga Named to Ray Guy Award Watch List

The Sooners' veteran punter received national recognition on Friday, joining a handful of other OU players who have appeared on various preseason watchlists.

Randall Sweet

Nov 18, 2023; Provo, Utah, USA; Oklahoma Sooners punter Luke Elzinga (48)
Nov 18, 2023; Provo, Utah, USA; Oklahoma Sooners punter Luke Elzinga (48) / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
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On Friday, Oklahoma punter Luke Elzinga was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list.

The Guy Award is given annual to college football's top punter. Last season, Iowa's Troy Taylor took home the trophy.

Elzinga is in contention for the Guy Award this season after transferring to Norman ahead of the 2023 season following four years at Central Michigan.

Former Arizona State specialist Josh Plaster served the Sooners' primary punter at the beginning of OU's 2023 campaign while Elzinga served as a short-field punter in very specific situations. The redshirt senior tallied two punts for 75 yards against SMU, one punt for 31 yards against Iowa State and one punt for 42 yards against Texas.

After entering the Red River Rivalry, Elzinga took over as the team's starting punter for the remainder of the season. The Grand Rapids, MI, product punted 27 times during his first year at Oklahoma, totaling 1,217 yards and averaging a career-high 45.1 yards per attempt.

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Elzinga's longest punt went 58 yards and the former Chippewas standout saw 14 of his attempts downed inside the 20-yard line in 2023. Only 10 of Elzinga's punts were returned last season with returners gaining just 75 total yards.

In his first year with the Sooners, the former three-time All-MAC honoree earned a 66.3 punting grade from Pro Football Focus. During the 2022 season at CMU, Elzinga punted 55 times for 2,367 yards, a long of 65 yards and 25 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, which got the talented specialist a 76.2 punting grade from PFF.

As a redshirt sophomore in 2021, Elzinga punted 57 times for 2,352 yards, a long of 62 yards and a career-high 27 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, receiving an 80.3 grade from PFF. As a redshirt freshman, Elzinga boomed a career-long 76-yard punt.

With former San Diego State special teams coach Doug Deakin, who received rave reviews from San Diego State DB transfer Dez Malone, now in Norman filling a similar role, Elzinga could have another good season in his sixth year of college football.

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. 

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