'Kickers are like golfers': Sooners hoping Gabe Brkic gets his groove back in time for Bedlam

NORMAN — Gabe Brkic has always been a mystery.

Whenever the OU kicker is interviewed, there's one question that's guaranteed to be asked.

What goes through your mind when you kick?

Brkic has spoke at three news conferences this season, and that trusty question has been asked a total of three times. Most kickers will happily oblige to provide some insight, but he always keeps his thoughts to himself.

"I can’t say," Brkic responded when asked the classic question after kicking a game-winning field goal against West Virginia on Sept. 25.

Brkic's mysterious persona came off as amusing earlier in the season because of his dominance on the field. The redshirt junior began the fall 4-for-4 on field-goal attempts of at least 50 yards, including a pair of 56-yard makes that marked a program record without a tee.

If he was delivering, it didn't matter what was going through his mind before his kicks.

But Brkic hasn't been delivering lately.

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He has missed all three of his field-goal attempts in OU's last two contests. Brkic couldn't connect on tries from 51 and 40 yards out against Baylor on Nov. 13, and he missed a 25-yard chip shot against Iowa State on Saturday.

The miss streak of three field-goal attempts marks a career-long for a player who had established himself as OU's most consistent weapon and arguably the best kicker in the country.

This isn’t the first time an OU kicker has experienced a cold streak throughout the course of a season, obviously.

Scott Blanton experienced his fair share of ups and downs. The Norman native went 41-for-63 on field-goal attempts throughout his four-year OU career from 1991-94.

Blanton didn’t have to face the wrath of social media after his misses, but that didn’t excuse him from the pressures of each kick.

"When you miss a field goal, you feel like you're disappointing your teammates," Blanton said. "I think that puts the most pressure on you as a kicker. I don't think it's the fans and the screaming that gets to you. You feel pressure to perform for your guys that are working hard to get down the field."

Since wrapping a four-year run in the NFL, Blanton has helped develop the skills of about 120 Division I kickers through his training business, Blanton's Kicking Exposure.

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Blanton has worked with OU punter Michael Turk in the past, but he says he doesn't have a relationship with Brkic. Still, the former Sooner has some advice for a player who knows what it's like to be in his cleats.

"If I had any advice for (Brkic), I'd say that his kicks will come," Blanton said. "He's good enough. Just keep the same routine, don't change anything and the footballs will start going through the uprights before you know it."

Until that happens for Brkic, the go-to question will remain relevant.

What goes through your mind when you kick?

While a missed kick can just be a missed kick sometimes, there is a psychological component to consider.

Christopher Antwine is a licensed professional counselor who works for Elite Brain Performance and Neurofeedback. The Oklahoma City-based facility works with individuals who have issues related the Anxiety, OCD, depression, and sports performance-related issues.

Antwine has worked with numerous Division I athletes in the area to help enhance their performance. Every athlete's situation is different, but there are a few common factors.

"When you want to enhance your performance, you have to think about some of the things that may be blocking your performance," Antwine said. "It could be stress management, depression, confidence, negative self-talk or performance anxiety. In this particular situation, a lot of times it's performance anxiety, like overthinking.

"When we think about working with an athlete, we don't separate the human aspect."

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That human aspect is important to keep in mind while watching Brkic's late-season slump.

The sky isn't falling for the kid.

In fact, Brkic was named a finalist on Tuesday for the Lou Groza Award, which honors the country's top placekicker.

"Kickers are like golfers, I would say," Blanton said. "You get in rhythms, so you have some good patches and some rough patches. But the good kickers will always bounce back. Gabe is one of the best kickers that has gone through OU... He's going to have an NFL career, and I'm 100 percent sure he'll bounce back."

It’s unlikely that Brkic will be made available to the media as long as his cold streak continues. Frankly, it’s less likely that he would share his thoughts even if he was given the chance.

The cause of Brkic’s slump will probably remain a mystery, but the Sooners need it to be resolved on Saturday.

OU has a lot on the line at Oklahoma State. The Sooners can do anything from win the regular-season Big 12 title to miss out on the championship game entirely, depending on how the day’s slate of games unfolds.

Points won’t be easy to come by against the Cowboys either. Oklahoma State is allowing a Big 12 Conference-low 14.9 points per contest this season, and there’s a chance the outcome of the game will rest on Brkic’s foot.

If the veteran kicker’s number is called down the stretch, OU head coach Lincoln Riley remains confident that he’ll deliver despite his recent struggles.

"Gabe will be great," Riley said on Tuesday. "(There's) no other kicker I’d rather go into a game like this with… When you do that for a living, you’re going to miss some every now and then.

"He’s made his share and he’ll make them Saturday night."

Justin Martinez can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or @JTheSportsDude on Twitter. Make sure to subscribe to The Oklahoman to stay up to date with all local sports.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Sooners hoping Gabe Brkic gets back in rhythm for Bedlam