Special teams have been one of the few unfinished jobs for No. 1 Texas this season, and the Red River Rivalry might be the place where that changes.
Through four games, the Longhorns are still waiting on the kind of explosive play that can flip field position in a hurry. Gianni Spetic has already delivered one clutch extra point against Ohio State, but he has not yet been asked to nail a pressure field goal. And as Texas has worked through a 4-0 start, the bigger issue has been the lack of a true spark on returns and coverage.
That showed up in a messy way during Texas’ 20-17 win at Tennessee on Sept. 26.
The Longhorns survived in Knoxville, but the special teams unit made life harder than it needed to be. Spetic averaged 61.8 yards per kickoff, and two of his five kicks went out of bounds, the same number that resulted in touchbacks.
Texas also gave up a 57-yard punt return touchdown, the first time a UT opponent had scored that way since 2013. Later, freshman Jermaine Bishop Jr. broke off a long punt return only to have it erased because Ryan Niblett had signaled for a fair catch.
Then Tennessee recovered an onside kick in the final minutes, setting up a desperate final throw into the end zone. The SEC later acknowledged Tennessee should have been penalized for the way it set up the onside try, but that did not change the fact that Texas receiver Ryan Wingo had a chance to fall on the ball and could not secure it.
During the bye week, Steve Sarkisian pointed to depth as the main issue on special teams, not just the lack of a headline grabber. The Texas coach said the unit needs more bodies who can absorb the workload and keep defensive starters fresher. Through four games, Kade Phillips, Graceson Littleton, Justin Cryer and Rasheem Biles have each logged at least 30 special teams snaps.
"The biggest thing on special teams we need to get is we need more depth," Sarkisian said. "We need other guys taking some of the heat off these guys on punt, punt return, kickoff coverage, and so we need the depth to step up. I think that's where we need to place an emphasis on (is) who can we count on to be in those positions to play on special teams to take the load off of those guys so that they can keep being the players that they are on defense."
If there’s a matchup that can wake up Texas’ special teams, it’s Saturday’s meeting with Oklahoma. The Sooners have been on the wrong end of some memorable Texas moments in this phase of the game, from Jordan Shipley’s kickoff return in the 2008 top-five showdown to Cameron Dicker’s 40-yard kick in 2018, complete with the head nod that became part of Longhorns lore.
Bo Hilliard’s 95-yard punt return against Oklahoma in 1932 remains the longest in Texas history, and Fozzy Whittaker’s 100-yard kickoff return in the 2011 Red River Rivalry game is one of five such returns in program history. Michael Dickson’s 55.0-yard per-punt average against the Sooners in 2017 is still the school record.
Texas also has a more recent example to lean on. Last October, Niblett’s 75-yard punt return touchdown helped blow open a tight game in a 23-6 win over Oklahoma. Nearly a year later, he is expecting more of the same.
"For sure," Niblett said last month. "Heading into SEC play, I feel like we're going to have a good game plan ahead of us."
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