Perfect Replacement

With 1:49 left in regulation and the score tied at 31 against Baylor last Saturday night in Waco, Oklahoma redshirt freshman kicker Gabe Brkic converted a 31-yard field goal that would complete the greatest comeback victory in Sooners history.

The kick was majestic, a towering, end-over-end, no-doubt-about-it, split-the-uprights masterpiece from the right hashmark that might have been good from twice that distance.

Trouble was, it didn't count.

With the play clock approaching zero, OU head coach Lincoln Riley called timeout rather than suffer a delay-of-game penalty.

All that pressure upon Brkic's shoulders had now intensified. Making the same potential game-winning kick twice is considerably more difficult.

While Brkic waited for the timeout to expire, redshirt senior holder Connor McGinnis told him, "You got this. You did it once, might as well do it again."

Redshirt sophomore long-snapper Kasey Kelleher approached Brkic and shared the following instructions: "Exact same thing. Don't change a damn thing."

Brkic didn't. His second kick was equally pristine and gave the Sooners a 34-31 lead with 1:45 remaining. OU wound up securing the victory on a Nik Bonitto interception with 29 seconds left and Brkic's game-clincher kept alive the Sooners' hopes for a fourth College Football Playoff appearance in five seasons.

"He's done a really good job at a young age to not let that really big moment get to him."
- Connor McGinnis

At a combined 49-for-49 this season, Brkic has been the perfect replacement since taking over in the fourth game following the suspension of original starter Calum Sutherland.

Brkic is 37 for 37 on PATs and 12 for 12 on field goals. He is one of five placekickers nationally who have made all of their field goal attempts this season and is one of just two kickers who have made every field goal and PAT (along with Wake Forest's Nick Sciba at 55 for 55). The OU freshman record for the highest combined conversion percentage in a season is 97.7% (42 for 43) by Michael Keeling in 1979.

No kicker in Sooners history has converted his first 49 combined attempts. Brkic's streak of 12 made field goals is the longest in school history to start a career and is the longest ever by an OU freshman.

Brkic also nearly executed the perfect onside kick in the final minute of the Kansas State loss, during which the Sooners were ruled to have touched the ball barely before it traveled the required 10 yards.

Brkic has been so impressive, he's been selected a Lou Groza Award semifinalist as the nation's top placekicker in a span of just seven games.

As Brkic stepped onto the field before his game-winner against the previously unbeaten Bears, he confidently nodded his head while strutting backward.

"I think all specialists have their own goofy way about themselves," Kelleher said. "He definitely has his own. They're all special in their own ways, kickers especially. They all have their weird thing. Gabe is a loose guy."

McGinnis said of Brkic, "He's a guy who's just so calm, cool and collected. He's done a really good job at a young age to not let that really big moment get to him. You can't fake that. Not at all. That's something that you can't prepare for in any way. The only way to get better in a pressure situation is to go through them. He's done an incredible job of making the most of those opportunities."

Brkic's kicks sail so high, you wonder if he's using his right foot or a lob wedge. This is not by accident.

"The first thing we do to warm up with a kicker is the height drill," Kelleher explained. "Hit the ball as high as possible, as fast as possible. And it pays off."

Brkic will face the goalpost from just 5 yards away (5 yards deep in the endzone) and try to kick the ball over the crossbar. Brkic had several kicks blocked during his junior season in high school and was determined to correct the problem. Mission accomplished.

As a sophomore at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School in Chardon, Ohio, Brkic gave up soccer, focused solely on football and immediately started turning heads.

Sooners special teams coordinator Jay Boulware and special teams analyst Ryan Dougherty identified Brkic as a potential recruit. Kelleher also played high school ball in Ohio and had noticed Brkic's talent while attending summer camps together.

The 6-foot-2, 196-pound Brkic was ranked No. 7 in his Kohl's Kicking Camps class. Recruited heavily by Air Force, Bowling Green, New Mexico, UMass and others, Brkic initially was not offered a scholarship at OU.

"If you're going to scholarship a specialist, you've got to be right," Riley said.

Riley saw Brkic's potential. "He was really, really talented," Riley said. "We thought if we could develop him a little bit he had a chance to be pretty good. He's certainly proven that."

"He doesn't skip any steps to become a great kicker and that's shown with the product he's been able to put on the field this year."
- Connor McGinnis

Riley does not often allow freshmen to do interviews, so other parties must do the talking. The impeccable combination of McGinnis and Kelleher are more than qualified to share insight given their record-setting history alongside Cleveland Browns rookie placekicker Austin Seibert, who departed OU with the most career points (499) for a kicker in FBS history.

McGinnis arrived in 2015 as a quarterback out of Heritage Hall High School and has shared quarterback meeting rooms with the last two Heisman Trophy winners in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, and now possibly a third straight winner in Jalen Hurts. McGinnis won the tongue-in-cheek Mortell Holder of the Year award in 2017 as the nation's premier holder and has been named a semifinalist again this season.

"His natural talent of being able to kick a football, you can tell he was born to do what he does," McGinnis said of Brkic. "What's special about Gabe is he's very meticulous about the little things. He doesn't skip any steps to become a great kicker and that's shown with the product he's been able to put on the field this year."

Asked if he has to say or do anything to help Brkic relax, Kelleher said, "Nah, he knows. I like to try to keep him level-headed. He's pretty good at holding his emotions in check. Honestly, we don't have to because he's pretty good at handling himself."

Discussing Brkic's perfection can be considered taboo, similar to approaching a baseball pitcher in the middle of a no-hitter or acknowledging a consecutive-games-played streak that might suddenly end due to injury.

McGinnis and Kelleher are not walking on eggshells, however.

"I really haven't brought it up," McGinnis said. "You just pretend like it's not happening and keep rolling."

Players Mentioned

Nik Bonitto

Gabe Brkic

Jalen Hurts

Kasey Kelleher

Connor McGinnis

Kyler Murray

Austin Seibert

Calum Sutherland

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics