What we learned from OU football preseason practice on Tuesday

NORMAN — The beginning of OU football 's Tuesday practice was all about special teams.

Sophomore safety Peyton Bowen led the Sooners through stretches and warmups before the team split up onto two fields for drills.

New special teams analyst Doug Deakin surveyed punt returns while kickers Liam Evans, Tyler Keltner and Zach Schmit took turns drilling field goals.

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Watch OU football kickers during preseason camp practice

The Sooners' starting kicker battle is seemingly between Schmit, OU's primary place kicker the last two seasons, and newcomer Keltner.

Head coach Brent Venables set out this offseason to improve on special teams after late-game struggles in 2023.

Keltner, the Florida State transfer, was the first to kick, nailing a short field goal. Keltner will play his sixth season of collegiate football after spending a year with the Seminoles and four seasons at East Tennessee State.

Schmit drilled one from around 55 yards. The McGuinness graduate was 15 of 21 on field goal tries in 2023.

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Nic Anderson, Jayden Gibson absent from Sooners practice

OU wide receivers Nic Anderson and Jayden Gibson didn't practice on Tuesday.

Gibson reportedly suffered a knee injury during practice last week and underwent an MRI.

Linebacker Dasan McCullough, who Venables previously said was being held out due to a minor toe injury, was also absent from Tuesday's practice.

Reporters are slated to speak with Venables on Tuesday afternoon where he will surely provide injury status updates.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: What we learned from OU football preseason practice on Tuesday