Seibert could loom large in title game
While Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert could very well be asked to make a big field goal in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship Game (11:30 a.m., Fox), the junior figures to have plenty of other chances to impact the game.
TCU is first in the Big 12 in kickoff returns and is second in punt returns.
KaVontae Turpin had a 56-yard kickoff return in the first meeting between the teams.
With the setup of AT&T Stadium, Seibert doesn’t figure to have to put up with wind, which has been about the only thing that’s kept him from being even better on forcing touchdowns on kicks.
The roof will be closed for the game, the Big 12 has determined.
Seventy-one of Seibert’s 95 kicks have ended in touchbacks.
But punting is an area where the Horned Frogs could take advantage.
“We don’t punt very much,” special teams coordinator Jay Boulware said. “I think he’s done a good job. He gets the ball out quick. He’s got some good ones. He’s got some that aren’t so good. His average is, I think, second in our league.
“When you look at what he’s done, all three phases — he’s the top field-goal kicker in our league percentage wise, he’s the second punter in our league average-wise, he’s the No. 1 kickoff guy in the country.
“When you look at a guy that’s done all three of those things that well, I’m like coach (Lincoln) Riley. That kid should be an All-American.”
Riley soon will turn eye toward hiring assistant
Beginning Jan. 9 — the day after the College Football Playoff National Championship — Division I programs will be allowed to add a 10th assistant.
Riley said that after Saturday’s game, hiring that extra assistant would be among the tasks in front of him.
“Once this game’s over, along with recruiting, we’re going to dive into a little bit more and start to (evaluate candidates).” Riley said.
Riley said he had no preconceived notions of where that extra position fits when it was announced earlier this year.
“I wanted to really see how did this year go and then really be able to look back and evaluate where could we most use somebody,” he said.
With every school nationally adding a coach at the same time, there figures to be some competition for young talent and a lot of coaching movement over the next few weeks.
“The good thing is that at a place like OU, there’s plenty of people that want to come work here,” Riley said. “So we’re lucky.” Tickets widely available While the reformed Big 12 Championship Game features the closest team to AT&T Stadium — TCU — against a team with a large alumni base in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, that hasn’t exactly resulted in tickets becoming a scarce commodity.
As of Friday morning, thousands of tickets remained on the primary market on Ticketmaster. com.
On ticket reseller StubHub.com, tickets could be found for under face value around the stadium.