Happy Friday, friends and fans!

Episode 6 of ‘The Standard’ dropped Thursday evening, and in this week’s inside look, the Oklahoma Sooners took care of business in Bedlam in emphatic fashion.

Assistant coaches Cale Gundy and DeMarco Murray were notably featured in the first part of this week’s episode, as they each recounted some of their most memorable games and moments from this heated in-state rivalry. As a player, Murray went 4-0 versus the Oklahoma State Cowboys (2007-10), and the younger Gundy brother has been a part of many Sooner wins over the decades as both a player and an assistant.

As far as the score and the talent disparity between OU and OSU is concerned, this year’s Bedlam contest likely won’t go down as one of the all-time classics in the series, but the dominance the Sooners displayed in prime time could go a long way toward closing out the 2020 season with an exclamation point.

Now onto this week’s Friday edition of Hot Links! Oklahoma will be down a pair of defensive starters this weekend, Sooner Hoops rolls to a season opening victory, a Texas HS football player takes his emotions out on a ref and more!

OU Links

• After the postponement of the West Virginia game and a tense week leading up to today, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, that’s right, the game against the Baylor Bears will indeed be played after some reassuring results on the testing front (and, according to Carey Murdock, the CDC’s new contact tracing guidelines).

• On Thursday, redshirt sophomore LB Nik Bonitto was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list — an honor reserved for the nation’s most outstanding defensive player. Semifinalists for the award will be named on Sunday, Dec. 6.

• Speaking of Bonitto, the folks over at Pro Football Focus have graded the pass rusher higher than any other player from a Power Five conference when it comes to QB pressure percentage. He’s been a monster off the edge all season, and the statistics back that up. Unfortunately, SI Sooners’ Parker Thune has reported that both Bonitto and Brendan Radley-Hiles will miss Saturday’s game against Baylor due to COVID contact tracing protocol.

• Also from PFF, it’s been determined that true freshman WR Marvin Mims is playing better than any other first year offensive player in the Big 12. That bodes well for talented pass-catcher’s future.

• Oklahoma Basketball is back! After a delayed start to the season, Lon Kruger’s squad opened the 2020-21 campaign with a resounding 105-66 win over the UTSA Roadrunners. Check out the full highlights below, and read up on Jack’s recap of the exciting hoops action.

• Speaking of OU b-ball, the Sooners have added a non-conference matchup against Oral Roberts after canceling a couple games due to COVID issues. This newly scheduled contest is set to tip on Wednesday, Dec. 16.

• In case you missed it, Stephen Brown has provided a 2021 recruiting update ahead of this weekend’s home finale against Baylor. Several highly-coveted four and five-star prospects could be making an unofficial trip to join five-star QB commit Caleb Williams in checking out OU and what the Sooners have to offer.
• Also, make sure you take a look at what I had to say about this year’s senior class at Oklahoma. In total, 16 Sooners are set to experience the final OU home game (potentially) of their collegiate careers, and even though there won’t be an event this weekend designated to honor them, it’s important that the fan base recognize these players for the contributions they’ve made to this program.

Around the Sports World

• Texas Longhorns RB Keaontay Ingram becomes the third UT player to opt-out of the team’s final two games of the regular season, and is reportedly seeking to transfer for another opportunity in 2021.
• The Ohio State Buckeyes’ road game against the Michigan State Spartans is officially on after both teams have passed all COVID testing protocols. This is great news for OSU in regards to its Big Ten Championship Game hopes.
• The NBA and NBPA have mutually agreed to cease randomized marijuana testing for the 2020-21 season.
• The NHL is reportedly aiming for a mid-January start to the 2021 season, and would like to build a 52-56 game schedule for its 31 organizations.
• In a Texas high school football game between the Edinburg High Bobcats and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High Bears on Thursday night, a player was ejected from the game. In response to the announcement, he rushed the field and tackled the head official to the turf. As Dave Chappelle would say, this is a prime example of when keeping it real goes wrong.

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