Special Teams Have Played a Major Role in Bedlams of the Past

Like it or not, special teams will play a major factor in determining the Bedlam victor on Saturday in Boone’s house. And not just because both teams have some of the worst special teams units in the country but also because history suggests it will.

I still remember Bedlam in 2012, when Jalen Saunders broke a punt return loose for a game-tying score before eventually going on to dump OSU, 51-48. OSU had every chance in the world to win that game, yet that Saunders fourth quarter score swung momentum after three OSU players missed him as he scampered down the sideline.

OSU would later answer with a score, but it was a critical special teams mistake that was ultimately the difference.

“I’m very disappointed that we weren’t able to finish,” said Gundy after the high-scoring affair in Norman that season. “We certainly made enough plays to win the game today.”

Then there’s 2014, when OSU avenged its consecutive rivalry losses with a stunning win in Norman, thanks to the Cheetah formerly known as Tyreek Hill.

I nearly lost my voice on this play. And I got more retweets from posting this on Twitter than I have money in my bank account. It was totally nuts. This punt return knotted the game and OSU would go on to win in OT.

But even that 2014 win might not have been possible, had Michael Hunnicut not botched a field goal after Hill’s return put OSU in business.

Fast forward two more years, and it was the other way around. Last season, Ben Grogan missed a critical field goal attempt that could have put OSU within one possession in the fourth quarter in Norman. The 38-yard miss set OU up with a chance to ice the game, and Joe Mixon happily obliged with a 79-yard score on the next play.

Coming into Bedlam this weekend, OSU ranks dead last in ESPN’s efficiency index on special teams. They’ve been bad in nearly every facet except special teams defense, which has been a main talking point for Gundy this week after a gaffe-filled Saturday in Morgantown.

“We’re not kicking the ball very well,” Gundy said of his struggling special teams unit this week. “We’ve been average in our kickoff location, which is important. We have not hit the ball as good as we need to, field goal-wise. Now, our percentage has been pretty close to average, but they’ve been short field goals so that makes everyone not feel so good about it. Then we’ve been below average in punting and that’s been very unusual for us. Those are mistakes we should not be making.”

With Bedlam on tap, can OSU’s special teams go from last to, say, middle-of-the-pack? Can they just be average against OU?  The special teams struggles have reared their head all season, but OSU fans, including myself, are dubious one week of preparation will be enough to remedy it.

Mike Gundy seems confident it can happen, though.

“Yes, we can improve considerably,” Gundy said. “The errors that we had at West Virginia shouldn’t have happened. We can improve that, and it will be a considerable part of our plan over the next three or four days.”

Let’s hope he’s right.

Here’s a look at how both teams have fared in special teams going into this game.

Oklahoma in particular struggles in the field position game, and Gundy is big on flipping fields. He talked about it with awe after the Texas game when Michael Dickson wiped the floor with Zach Sinor.

You wouldn’t think a Bedlam game between two of the better offenses in recent Big 12 history would come down to field position, but these numbers suggest that if it does, Oklahoma State actually might (somehow) have an advantage. That is presuming they’ll actually attempt to return kicks and punts, of which there is little evidence thus far.

With two teams this poor in this area of the game, something crazy is sure to happen on Saturday in Stillwater. And you can be sure, if it changes the game like we’ve seen in the past, we’ll be talking about it for many years to come.