Happy Thursday, friends and fans!

Oklahoma Sooners five-star QB commit Caleb Williams is headlining the 2021 All-American Bowl roster. Currently, the Washington D.C. product is rated as the No. 1 quarterback in the nation, and the No. 4 overall prospect.

On Jan. 2, Williams will represent OU on the East Team. Other Sooner commits competing in this year’s All-American Bowl include four-star DE Clayton Smith out of Texarkana, Texas and four-star WR Cody Jackson out of Richmond, Texas. Both Smith and Jackson are set to suit up for the West.

Now for today’s Hot Links! Alex Grinch says the defense is ‘almost guilty of being pretty good’, K1 returns to Jerry World, Nick Saban will not coach against No. 3 Georgia this Saturday and more!

OU Links

• On Wednesday, OU defensive coordinator Alex Grinch delivered quite possibly the quote of the year when discussing the Sooners’ defense. In all seriousness, he makes a great point, especially in terms of the Red River Showdown. For the majority of regulation, the defense nearly shut down the UT’s entire offensive game plan. If it wasn’t for OU’s untimely turnovers or inability to salt the game away, ‘Speed D’ would have received even higher grades.

• Junior DT Perrion Winfrey had a huge day wreaking havoc in the trenches in Oklahoma’s 4OT win over the Texas Longhorns, including a critical blocked field goal in the third extra period. SI Sooners’ Parker Thune recently wrote about the impact he’s made with his presence in the middle early on in this season.
• Kyler Murray and his Arizona Cardinals are visiting the Dallas Cowboys for Monday Night Football on Oct. 19. K1 is undefeated in his all-time playing career at AT&T Stadium, including his most recent game there in the 2018 Big 12 Championship.

• OU radio man Toby Rowland caught up with Lon Kruger on Thursday, and the Sooners coach confirmed that his team will be playing two Big 12 games prior to Christmas, and that the rest of the conference slate should be released soon.

• In case you missed it, BreakingT designer Nick Torres came up with this sweet Red River themed t-shirt to commemorate Oklahoma’s epic four-OT win over Texas. Not only will the Sooners retain the Golden Hat Trophy for another year, but the river that borders these two states indeed still runs red. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate one of the wildest games in the history of the series than to add this baby to your OU wardrobe right away!

Around the Sports World

• Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban and university athletic director Greg Byrne have both tested positive for COVID-19. Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian is expected to take over head coaching duties while Saban stays home in isolation.
• The Texas Tech Red Raiders announced the team’s decision to start Utah State transfer QB Henry Colombi over Alan Bowman against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Oct. 24.
• On Thursday, the Atlanta Falcons primary facilities were forced to shut down all in-person work activity after it was discovered that a staff member recently tested positive for coronavirus.
• The UFC’s Conor McGregor has accepted a fight against Dustin Poirier on Jan. 23. For now, the agreement is only verbal, but both sides are reportedly interested in making it contractually official.
• On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers notched an MLB postseason record by scoring 11 runs in the top of the first inning versus Atlanta Braves en route to a 15-3 win. L.A. now trails ATL, 2-1 in the NLCS.

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