Happy Friday, friends and fans!

Fans of the Oklahoma Sooners were able to indulge in a couple little treats during Thursday night’s preseason games, as the last two Heisman Trophy winners and No. 1 overall picks were both in action, albeit for one drive apiece.

Kyler Murray made his debut in an NFL uniform, and he did not disappoint whatsoever. On the night, K1 completed 6-7 passes for 44 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. While it wasn’t as long-lived of a run as most watching would have wanted, it was still a nice glimpse of what’s to come in the Arizona Cardinals’ offense under Kliff Kingsbury.

Baker Mayfield was also in action for a single drive with the Cleveland Browns, and his offense put on an absolute clinic in a simulated two-minute drill. When it was all said and done, the G.O.A.T. was 5-6 through the air for 77 yards, including a 24-yard scoring strike to Rashard Higgins.

There likely won’t be much more action from Mayfield during the preseason, but Murray should certainly take the field for a few more looks. It takes a delicate balance between preserving your franchise player and giving them enough snaps to incorporate them into the offense. At least with K1, he’s quite familiar with the system, and he’s a natural in this game.

Now onto this week’s Friday edition of Hot Links! Adrian Ealy is competing for a starting spot, Sooners reunite during the preseason, Kenny Young obliterates a rookie and more!

OU Links

• If you want to be a part of the most innovative and interactive college football poll on the web this season, sign up for SB Nation’s FanPulse Top 25! Of course, we here at Crimson & Cream Machine cover the Oklahoma Sooners, so if you’re all about OU as well as the sport on a national level, tell us where you think the best teams should be ranked. You have until Aug. 12 to be eligible for the initial preseason poll, but if you happen to get this memo late, you can still sign up to vote for the weekly poll updates throughout the season.
• Redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Adrian Ealy has sat behind Orlando Brown Jr. and Cody Ford, both of whom are now in the NFL, in the first two seasons of his career. Now he’s ready to take the next step as a key contributor along Oklahoma’s O-line.

• Hey look, it’s Baker Mayfield and Samaje Perine! Oh, and over there it’s Ben Powers, Marquise Brown, Dede Westbrook and Orlando Brown Jr.! All these guys are just hanging out and catching up like they would back at the Palace on the Prairie.

• Gerald McCoy is no longer with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but instead he’s rocking with the Carolina Panthers. Hope he’s in for a big season!

• In case you missed it, catch up on this week’s Oklahoma Breakdown Podcast episode with Jack and Kamiar, where they discuss news from fall camp, the defense, and Tre Norwood’s injury. Also, make sure to subscribe to the podcast on your platform of choice! We’re now on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Google Play and Stitcher. If you enjoy the podcast, make go ahead and give us a five-star rating on iTunes, as it will help us reach more listeners. As usual, keep in mind that there is some NSFW language on the pod.

Around the Sports World

• Cleveland Browns WR/punt returner Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi ran a punt back for a touchdown in Thursday night’s preseason game, and it couldn’t have happened for a more deserving player. His story from where he started his NFL journey to where he is now is nothing short of remarkable. Hopefully he finds a permanent roster spot somewhere once the regular season kicks off.

• College football stats guru Bill Connelly assessed how a handful of teams going into year two with their head coach will fair this fall.
• Detroit Lions WR Jermaine Kearse suffered a gruesome broken leg injury and had to be carted off the field during Thursday night’s preseason contest versus the New England Patriots.
• Tiger Woods is going through yet another physical setback as he had to withdraw from The Northern Trust golf tournament due to a strained oblique muscle.

• I don’t know if we’ll see a better hit during the NFL preseason than this annihilating boom from Baltimore Ravens LB Kenny Young on Jacksonville Jaguars rookie QB Gardner Minshew. Welcome to the league, my guy.

Stick to Sports!

• Shia LaBeouf wrote and stars in this upcoming Amazon Studios film ‘Honey Boy’. The kicker is that LaBeouf is playing the role of his own real life father, and the story is about his upbringing as a child actor. I commend the man for taking on such a transparent and introspective project. Judging by the trailer, this is going to be something special and could open a window into a novel sort of storytelling. The movie is set to release in November.

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