Sooner fans have high expectations for this year's edition of Oklahoma football.

The Sooners have several returning contributors from last
season.

Leading the charge are senior return men Darius Johnson and P.J. Mills.

Johnson ranked fifth in the conference in punt returns last season. and against Missouri, he returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown.

Johnson and Mills will be joined by Jerald Moore for kickoff returns.

The Sooners have lost one of their best special team performers in all-conference kicker Scott Blanton.

Following Blanton as placekicker is Jeremy Alexander.

Alexander, a sophomore from Claremore, played in the Oklahoma State game last year when Blanton was injured.

Alexander said he is ready to join the long list of outstanding Sooner kickers.

"I think people are going to expect me to do well.

"It doesn't bother me to follow in his (Blanton's) footsteps, but I think the expectations are going to be high."

Alexander said he wants to help the team out in any way he can.

"I think the main goal is to win the national championship," he said. "To do that you'd have to win the Big Eight championship and probably go undefeated.

"Every time I get out on the field and have an opportunity to kick an extra point or a field goal, hopefully it'll go through."

The Sooners also have a returning punter in sophomore Tim Daughtry.

He said he feels his biggest responsibility is to help the defense keep the opposition pinned deep in their own territory.

"My biggest goal is to help the defense as much as I can," Daughtry said.

"When I have the opportunity to punt, I'd like to give the defense the best field position I can."

Daughtry was called into action against Texas last year, replacing Blanton as the punter and responded with an average of 41 yards on four kicks.

He finished the season with a 38.1 average on 21 punts.

Kickoffs will be handled by either Nick Lynch, a sophomore
from Skiatook, or Brian Lewis, a true freshman from St. George, Utah.

The most experienced player on special teams is deep snapper Taylor Wickersham.

Although Wickersham is a walk-on, he handled every deep snap for the Sooners in the 1994 season.

The Sooners also have several walk-on kickers out for the team this year.

Chad Cochell, Steve Daniels, John Hillman, and Seth Hendricks are all in their first year of OU football.

Coach Merv Johnson is in charge of the special teams. He said the entire team works on special teams about twenty minutes per day.

Some of the kickers have also received instruction from
former OU kicker, Uwe Von Schamman.

Coach Johnson said the special teams consist mostly of defensive players.

The special teams give a lot of the younger players a chance to get game experience.

"I have high expectations for Corey Ivy and Travian Smith and several of the guys," he said. "I don't think we can be sure that our lineup is settled until we play a game or two.

"I think Michael Rose, Keith Sparks, and Colin Rosenberg are three guys that I think are going to perform well."

Johnson said he uses the best non-starting players he has for special teams coverage.

He said he likes to use the second team players because it allows the starters to get a few moments of rest during the game.

He said the backup players are usually fresh and excited to get in the game.

Coach Johnson said he would like for OU's special teams to be among the best in the conference.

"I'd like to rank at the top of the various categories of the Big Eight conference.

"If we can do that it will be a tremendous improvement over last year."
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