Report: Oklahoma Will Opt for Kicker Zach Schmit vs. South Carolina

Zach Schmit will take over the position for Saturday’s Southeastern Conference game against South Carolina, Thune said.

He replaces senior transfer Tyler Keltner, who made 1-of-2 field goals last week in the Sooners’ 34-3 loss to Texas. 

Keltner won the job in the preseason over Schmit, who started the last two seasons. But Keltner has had timing problems, taking a delay of game penalty before making a 50-yard field goal against Tulane and then hurrying through his pre-kick routine last week and missing a vital 44-yarder on the opening possession after a Texas turnover.

Keltner had an appendix procedure three weeks ago and missed the Sooners’ trip to Auburn, a 27-21 win.

In his absence, Schmit stepped in and made two high-pressure kicks, including one in the fourth quarter.

Keltner is 7-of-9 this season on field goals, while Schmit is 2-of-2. Schmit also has handled all of OU’s kickoff this season, and hit 23 of his 32 kickoffs for touchbacks.

In his first two seasons as OU's kicker, Schmit made 27-of-39 field goal attempts. Keltner, who played as a backup last year for his hometown Florida State Seminoles, was a four-time All-Southern Conference honoree at East Tennessee State, where he made 56-of-74 field goals.

The Sooners go into Saturday's 11:45 p.m. kickoff with a 1-2 SEC record and a 4-2 overall mark. OU began the week as a 7 1/2-point favorite, but the betting line now favors the Gamecocks (3-3, 1-3) by a point.