With No Answers at Kicker, Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables Says, 'We Got to Get Better'
NORMAN — Oklahoma is eight points away from being undefeated.
Much like last year, placekicker Zach Schmit has been a central figure in why the Sooners are not.
“We’ve got to get a little better with our confidence and our fundamentals at kicking,” OU coach Brent Venables said on Monday.
Schmit has struggled to put the ball through the uprights again this season as the Sooners have struggled to win close games again.
Last year, Schmit missed six of his 18 field goal attempts, and the Sooners suffered losses in four of their last five games as Schmit missed kicks of 55, 54, 46, 34 and 45 yards in the second half of the season.
This year, the Sooners have been able to win a couple close games despite’s Schmit’s misses of 45, 38, 43, 51 and 28 over the second half of the season.
But OU has also lost a couple of close games — 38-33 at Kansas and 27-24 at Oklahoma State. In the latter, Schmit missed a 51-yarder.
“We’ve been too inconsistent there,” Venables said.
Schmit, a fourth-year junior from Oklahoma City, was 12-of-18 last year, or 66.7 percent. He’s currently 12-of-18 this year as well — but he’s missed five of his last nine attempts.
Venables said recently the national average for field goal kickers is about 75 percent. Schmit's .667 this year ranks 94th in the nation out of 118 FBS kickers ranked.
Saturday’s whiff at BYU was a big one, a 28-yard chip shot from the right hashmark that Schmit somehow yanked too far to the left. It was the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 24, and the Sooners had a chance to take the lead. They eventually did after another defensive stop and a touchdown run by Gavin Sawchuk.
But just like too many times last year, winning in Provo was a sketchy proposition because Schmit missed an important kick.
Schmit’s reasonable range appears to be inside of 40, but he’s also missed five times from 39 or less. Leg strength isn’t the problem, as 44 of his 76 kickoffs have been touchbacks.
The 51-yard miss in Stillwater came in the second quarter but could have left the game tied in the closing minutes. With the score tied, the Sooners’ final, desperate drive could have been to win the game, and maybe Schmit would have been asked to do so.
Schmit might have gotten the call a week before in Lawrence, too, if Venables had opted to have Schmit kick extra points after two touchdowns (he’s 110-of-110 in his career on PATs) instead of chasing early 2-point conversions. If OU was down by just three on its final drive instead of five, Venables might have turned the spotlight on Schmit to tie that game as well.
But high-pressure kicks don’t seem to be Schmit’s strength at the moment. Right now, it seems, regardless of distance, Schmit apparently lacks confidence as he awaits the snap.
Venables sounded Monday like he doesn’t have any real answers to fortify things in 2023.
“We kick multiple guys in practice,” Venables said, “and Zach’s been our most consistent.”
If Schmit remains the best kicker in practice, Venables has two options: he can keep rolling Schmit out in the game and hope he turns things around, or he can see if walk-on junior college transfer Redi Mustafaraj, a third-year sophomore from Atoka, OK, might be better in games than he is in practice.
Or, an undesirable third option for Friday’s season finale against TCU and beyond: Venables could continue to go for it on fourth down instead of opting for field goals. The Sooners are 11-of-16 on fourth down conversions (69 percent, which ranks 12th in the nation), where last year they were 11-of-29 (38 percent).
Venables said one option is apparently off the table: turning the job over to Gavin Marshall, a redshirt freshman from Frisco, TX. Marshall is 2-for-2 on extra points this season as Schmit’s backup, but Venables said he’s not currently in the mix.
“He’s been hurt most of the year,” Venables said. “Unavailable.
“We just got to get better.”
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