There’s rewards and risks in going either direction. Do you use your best players (starters) on special teams? Or do you give them some rest and narrow their chances for injury?
Those are questions every college football coach ponders. It causes an even bigger debate for a team like Oklahoma, which has some special teams that are clearly struggling.
“We just haven’t been able to get it done,” OU coach Bob Stoops said.
Specifically, the fourth-ranked Sooners’ have been struggling to cover kicks. They’re currently 109th in the country in kick return coverage, allowing 25.33 yards per return. The average isn’t even 4 yards more than it allowed last season. In terms of confidence, though, they’re miles apart.
Most of that is due to the two kick returns the Sooners have allowed for touchdowns this season. The first came against Cincinnati. The second, a 96-yard return OU gave up to Texas’ Jordan Shipley that helped the Longhorns stay in the game when it appeared they were on the verge of being knocked out in the first half, is fresh on everyone’s mind.
But the problems go beyond covering kickoffs. The Sooners rank ninth or worse in the Big 12 Conference in kick return coverage, punt return average (7.5 per return) and net punting (32.0 yards). Only kick returns have been solid. OU currently ranks third in the conference and 15th among bowl subdivision teams at 25 yards per return.
Stoops said some changes will be evident at 2:30 p.m. Saturday when his team takes to Owen Field against No. 16 Kansas. Personnel changes have been made to find the consistency the Sooners have lacked.
One way to find some consistency is to play more starters on special teams. During Stoops’ first couple of seasons, starters were everywhere on special teams and the Sooners consistently won that phase in just about every game.
“I can remember years ago we had Roy Williams on kickoff cover team,” secondary coach Bobby Jack Wright. “He was by far and away our best defensive player, but he was out there covering kicks. Maybe we’ve gotten away from that a little bit.”
But it makes sense the unit that has the most starting position players on it has gotten the best production.
Against Texas, eight starters — running back DeMarco Murray, tight ends Brody Eldridge and Jermaine Gresham, safety Nic Harris, linebacker Keenan Clayton, fullback Matt Clapp, defensive end Jeremy Beal and wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias — were all on the kickoff return squad.
On some units, that has not been the case. The kickoff coverage team, which has faced the most scrutiny this season, only used four starters against Texas. Cornerbacks Dominique Franks and Brian Jackson, safety Lendy Holmes and Clapp.
The punt team featured five starters — Harris, Gresham, Eldridge, Clayton and Clapp.
“We just have to continue to read and figure out how to get off blocks and make plays,” Holmes said.
If they start making plays, the questions will go away. At least until the first starter gets hurt on special teams play. Any decision the Sooners make has positives and negatives.
But it appears the best players are going to play, even it means playing on special teams.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
What's wrong with the Sooners' kicking team?
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