NORMAN — Ryan Niblett didn't have a lane when he caught a 48-yard punt from Grayson Miller. Oklahoma had their guys in position to make a routine tackle in a one-score game in the Cotton Bowl.
"We had nine Sooners to the left of Niblett a calendar year ago," Special Teams coach Doug Deakin said on Monday. "And he literally was able to go in a vertical line down the field and housed it against us."
Nibblet was able to avoid would-be tacklers and benefit from a generous no-call or two to stretch the one-score lead to a seemingly insurmountable lead the way Oklahoma's offense was playing that day. It proved to be the game-clincher.
A year later, not only did Deakin's blocked punt scheme help bring the Golden Hat back to Norman, punt coverage also played a large role in the Sooners' ability to stay in the game and ultimately win it thanks to the "scars" of how 2025's Red River Rivalry turned out.
The sound performance in punt coverage was thanks in some part that harsh reminder.
"(Niblett's punt return) has been played over and over more than I would love to admit to the fact. I think it motivates them and ticks them off, ‘Coach, we know.’ Yeah, they’ve seen it plenty of times since that day,” Deakin said.
OU needed a special performance from their punt coverage team. The Sooners punted nine times against Texas. Niblett returned the first punt of the game 10 yards and another punt in the second quarter for 11 yards.
Outside of those two that, Niblett never got free of any Oklahoma tackles foaming at the mouth to right the wrongs of yesteryear. He called fair catch five times and was brought down for no gain or a loss of yards on the other three tries.
"It’s a lot of credit to the drill work and the onus that they have," Deakin said. "It’s important to the guys, and they don’t ever want to give up a return. It’s their belief, and ultimately, execution-wise, they do a great job every week.
Deakin has instilled a culture of runners meeting the punt returner with, as he described it, "bad intentions."
It's worked so far in 2026. Oklahoma's longest punt return of the season was a 13-yard return at the end of the first quarter of the Georgia game. Other than Niblett's two 10-plus-yard returns, every other punt has resulted in fair catches or minimal gains.
"When you’re the first guy down, take your shot. Don’t go down, running down 40-plus yards not to take your shot on that returner. So, they did a great job of executing," Deakin said.
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