Happy Friday, friends and fans!

Are you drinking the Oklahoma Sooners Kool-Aid yet? If you are, be careful, because there’s a chance it could be laced with rat poison. Oh yes, you ought to be quite familiar with the term, because Jalen Hurts — a Nick Saban protégé — is all about staying away from the stuff, and he’s not shy about warning his team of its potentially lethal effects.

Take for example this screenshot (courtesy of KFOR’s Nate Feken) of a photo uploaded by OU’s official Instagram account. The post lauds Oklahoma’s offense for once again ranking among the best of the best in college football. However, QB1 was quite direct and ultra concise in his reality check of a comment, and honestly, I’m here for it.

Some Sooner fans might be growing tired of the constant downplaying mentality Hurts has consistently been about, and if that’s you, I’m here to tell you that you are indeed in the minority on this one. It’s only been three games, but his mission-oriented attitude and business-like approach seems to be permeating through this team in ways past leaders were unable to do. The goal hasn’t changed, and it’s far from being reached. Jalen Hurts is just doing his due diligence as a team captain to lead his new brothers to the mountaintop.

Okay, now I need a ‘Just Say No to Rat Poison’ t-shirt like yesterday. Or you know, something to that effect.

Now onto this week’s Friday edition of Hot Links! Jalen Hurts leads Heisman race for a former winner, Bill Bedenbaugh continues to win as a recruiter, Russell Westbrook and James Harden throw punches and more!

OU Links

• The Big 12 Championship Game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff on Dec. 7, and will be televised on ABC. Oklahoma has faired quite well in the resurgence of the conference title match despite early starts in each of the last two years, so at least the Sooners will have that experience going for them should they return to Arlington.

• FOX Sports’ Matt Leinart knows a thing or two about the Heisman Trophy (yes, I’m still salty), and going into the fourth week of the 2019 college football season, it should be no surprise who leads for him in the stiff arm race. Jalen Hurts is impressing just about everyone, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be slowing down any time soon.

• Sooner Scoop’s Bob Przybylo wrote about O-line whisperer Bill Bedenbaugh and how his patience on the recruiting trail has paid off. Churning out the amount of talent that he does towards the next level is almost too good for the nation’s top OL prospects to pass up.
• In case you missed it, Jack and Kamiar linked up for another episode of the Oklahoma Breakdown Podcast this week to review the win at UCLA. They also assessed some of the key positions on this OU team three games into the season. There’s plenty of promising signs of strength, but also enough weaknesses to cause pause. As usual, there is some NSFW language used on the pod.

• Also, if you haven’t already, make sure you check out the new React Havoc Jordan Brand sneaks made for fans of the Oklahoma Sooners. You don’t want to go to your next OU watch party and see someone else wearing these bad boys when you could have easily grabbed a pair for yourself. Yeah, you definitely don’t want to be that fan, so don’t miss out!

Around the Sports World

• Thursday night college football is the best. After successfully executing the Annexation of Puerto Rico (shout out to ‘Little Giants’) to get within striking distance, the Tulane Green Wave pulled off this miracle in the final seconds to defeat the Houston Cougars. To my guys who missed the tackles: why you no wrap up though?

• The 0-2 Miami Dolphins already appear to be tanking for the first pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, and after not being remotely competitive on the field thus far, Josh Rosen is now set to replace Ryan Fitzpatrick as the team’s starting QB. With the Dallas Cowboys up next, this could get mighty ugly in a hurry.
• Ohio State’s 1955 Heisman Trophy winner Howard ‘Hopalong’ Cassady passed away early Friday morning. He was 85 years old.

• With eight games left before the postseason begins, the New York Yankees clinched the AL East Division on Thursday night with a 9-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels. This is the first time NY has won its division since 2012. That season, the team reached the AL Championship series, but was ultimately swept by the Detroit Tigers.

• Many athletes train with combat sports in the offseason to maintain their cardio among many other beneficial results, but for some reason watching Houston Rockets teammates Russell Westbrook and James Harden punch this bag looks somewhat awkward. I’m no expert in the ring (or the octagon), but I’ve dabbled enough to know what looks comfortable and what looks a bit odd. Either way, it’s still cool to see them together. Right OKC?

Stick to Sports!

• Drake has accumulated a medley of tattoos over the years, many of which are portraits of real-life celebrities like Denzel Washington, Rihanna and ‘The Beatles’. Apparently, vocal legend Celine Dion is next on his list, and while she’s flattered by the notion, she’s pretty serious about wanting Drake to reconsider the idea. I think he’ll respect her wish in the end, but he should totally take her up on a hang out. I mean, that’s certainly on my bucket list.

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