NORMAN - As preseason camp winds down and Oklahoma 's attention turns toward its Sept. 4 opener against UTEP, there's still at least one position battle still going strong.
Most returning All-SEC first-teamers aren't battling for their jobs the next season, barring injury.
But that's the position that Grayson Miller is in as the competition for the Sooners ' starting punter job between Miller and Jacob Ulrich is still going strong.
"The punting situation has been really good," Sooners coach Brent Venables said after Friday's practice, calling the position battle "fantastic.". "Both of them have had excellent camps. Jacob is punting better than he's ever punted since he's been here, and it's been a great battle.
"Not a whole lot of teams probably can say that they have two quality SEC-type punters, but we really believe we do."
It's the second consecutive season where the battle between Miller and Ulrich has gone down to the wire.
Last season, Ulrich won the job out of camp and was excellent in the season opener against Illinois State , where he had two punts.
The first, on the Sooners' first drive of last season, went 54 yards.He later added a 41-yard punt.
But Ulrich injured his hamstring the next week, giving Miller the opening he needed.
The next week against Michigan , Miller had four punts for a 47.8-yard average with two of his punts going inside the 20 and a long of 59 yards.
Ulrich was soon healthy enough to return but Miller took control of the job and remained the primary punter for the rest of the season.
"He doesn't want to be Wally Pippwhere everyone forgets and Lou Gehrigplays 2,000 straight games," special teams coordinator Doug Deakinsaid of Ulrich in the spring. "Ulrich has had the right mindset and what I appreciate about Ulrich, too, is how much of a professional he was throughout the season when Miller clearly did a great job ever since he got the role."
Ulrich averaged 45.4 yards per punt in 2024 at Kennesaw State before transferring to Oklahoma. Miller had averaged 43.2 yards in 2024 at Central Oklahoma .
Miller ultimately became a first-team All-SEC selection by both the coaches and media after averaging 45.8 yards, setting a program record with 24 punts of 50 or more yards.
Though there's no indication that Tate Sandell won't be the Sooners' kicker after winning the Lou Groza Award last season, Venables also said Friday that both Sandell and junior Liam Evanshad hit 68-yard field goals that day in practice with the win at their backs.
Sandell's long last season was 55 yards.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/oklahoma as What Position Battle Remains for Oklahoma as it Closes in on Season Opener? .
