Not much has been special about Texas' special teams, but Oklahoma may help fix slow start

Special teams have been anything but special this season for Texas football .

Through four games, No. 1 Texas (4-0, 1-0 SEC) is still waiting for that big return on a punt or kickoff. New kicker Gianni Spetic provided a clutch extra point against Ohio State , but he hasn't yet made a pressure field goal.

The Longhorns' struggles on special teams were best illustrated in the team's last game against Tennessee. Texas remained undefeated with a 20-17 win in Knoxville on Sept. 26, but a handful of special teams blunders kept the Volunteers in the game:

• Spetic averaged 61.8 yards per kickoff and had as many of his five kicks go out of bounds as they did for a touchback (one).

• Texas allowed a 57-yard punt return for a touchdown. A UT opponent hadn't scored off a punt return since 2013.

• Texas had a long punt return by freshman Jermaine Bishop Jr. waived off when it was determined that fellow returner Ryan Niblett had signaled for a fair catch.

• Tennessee also recovered an onside kick in the final minutes that set up a failed heave into the end zone on the game's final play. Yes, the SEC later acknowledged that Tennessee should have been penalized for how they set up the onside try. But that mea culpa overshadowed the fact that Texas receiver Ryan Wingo had a chance to land on the ball but couldn't.

"I messed up, (but the defense) came out there and got a stop," Wingo said.

Texas looks for more depth instead of highlights on special teams

During last week's bye, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian recognized his team is having issues on special teams. He seemed less concerned about the Jeff Banks-coached unit's lack of a big return or big kick, though.

Sarkisian instead stressed that the Longhorns must develop more depth on special teams. Through four games, defensive starters Kade Phillips, Graceson Littleton, Justin Cryer and Rasheem Biles have all logged at least 30 special teams snaps.

"The biggest thing on special teams we need to get is we need more depth," Sarkisian said. "We need other guys taking some of the heat off these guys on punt, punt return, kickoff coverage, and so we need the depth to step up. I think that's where we need to place an emphasis on (is) who can we count on to be in those positions to play on special teams to take the load off of those guys so that they can keep being the players that they are on defense."

Longhorns have history of big plays on special teams vs OU

If Texas is going to break out of its special teams funk, Saturday's Red River Rivalry game may be the day to do it. After all, Oklahoma (2-2, 0-1) has been the opposing end of a handful of highlights for UT special teams.

The Red River Rivalry game is where Jordan Shipley scored on a kickoff return during a top-five showdown in 2008 and where Cameron Dicker inserted himself into Longhorns lore with a nod of his head and a 40-yard kick in 2018 . The longest punt return in Longhorns history? Bo Hilliard's 95-yarder against OU in 1932. The longest kickoff return in UT history? Fozzy Whittaker recorded one of the program's five 100-yard returns in the 2011 Red River Rivalry game. The per-punt average of 55.0 that Michael Dickson recorded against the Sooners during his 2017 Ray Guy Award-winning season remains a school record.

Last October, Niblett's 75-yard punt return touchdown broke open a close game. Nearly one year after that 23-6 win over the Sooners, he is confident that big plays are coming for Texas.

"For sure," Niblett said last month. "Heading into SEC play, I feel like we're going to have a good game plan ahead of us."