*Alright guys, we'll start with some of the conversations, I've had the last few days.

First is Lake Butler (Fla.) Union County three-star defensive lineman Markus Strong.

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We had a pretty lengthy conversation and the first thing I came away with is he seems like a very natural fit for Todd Bates he talked about really connecting with the SOUL mission and how that side of things appeals to him.

We discussed how much he kind of grew up with a respect for Oklahoma and you could tell from his words that even though he's not overly familiar - in any real way - with the Sooners that they get some real elevation in his eyes just based on name recognition.

"Oklahoma, they've just always stuck out to me along with UCF and Oregon," Strong said while admitting his proximity to Gainesville, Fla. has always made the Gators intriguing to him.

What's most interesting is that Strong's persistence is what eventually earned him the offer. From Strong's explanation he had followed Brent Venables before then 'refollowed' him over the weekend. Venables quickly followed him back before Bates would soon do the same.

"I talked a little with coach Venables and then talked with coach Bates before he told me to call him and then on Monday they offered me," Strong recalled.

Strong hasn't finalized an official visit to Norman but I think the chances for December seem most likely. I wouldn't rule out Nov. 19 but part of me wonders if Strong might be an answer to what happens with David Hicks so Oklahoma might bring Strong in during December, if that's the direction things seem to be headed, and try and close him.

My feeling was that barring Florida getting involved this is a pursuit that Oklahoma can be heavily involved in. And it helps Oklahoma that Florida would have to move quickly as he expects to be done in December.

**The next new offer I had a chance to speak with last night was Coffeyville (Kan.) Coffeyville C.C. four-star offensive guard Keyshawn Blacklock. As he is rated as a guard by Rivals, and others, there's an assumption that it's where he'd play if he ended up in Norman but he says he's comfortable along the offensive line and 'just wants to be where I can help the team the most'.


My conversation with Blackstock was a bit more vague as far as his level of interest though he was willing to say that he'd like to take a trip to Norman if he can make it work and with his plans to graduate in December, he knows he is up against the clock.

The one thing Blackstock WAS adamant about? The reality that distance from home just isn't going to be a huge thing for the Covington, Ga. native.

There has been some talk of Auburn with him but Oklahoma may be in the perfect place to mitigate the Tigers with their upheaval of coaching staff.

The thing that stood out to me? His admission that his future position coach will be a HUGE part of his decision AND what kind of coach he is looking for.

"The relationship I have with my offensive line coach and the coaching staff. I want to feel like I'm need and not wanted. When you want somebody, when you need a guy you're going to go after his (butt)," Blacklock said.

"Just honesty, you don't have to lie. That's the biggest thing I can say, no need to lie to me. I'm going to come in and work from day one. I'm not asking anybody for (anything), I'm going to come in and take what I want so the biggest thing is to just be honest and don't lie to me."

I mean...is that a Bill Bedenbaugh guy or what? And yes those parentheticals were removed for 'decency'.

Getting Blacklock on campus will be tricky as Coffeyville has games the next two weeks and then Coffeyville will likely still be dealing with an NJCAA bowl game. But could the Sooners bring him in on Nov. 19 for Bedlam?

We'll see.

***Finally a guy that I think could be the next on the offer train is Auburn Rivals250 safety commitment Terrance Love.


Last night he was contacted by Sooners safety coach Brandon Hall after the Sooners had started to show some interest earlier in the week.

"He told me he is about to give me a look because he needs a safety that can play now," Love said.

It's not every day a player of Love's ranking can fall into your lap at this late date but with all that's happening at Auburn there is still plenty in play.

I was 10 seconds from being out the door for the basketball banquet. No clue what happened. The Shot Doctor is out.

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Markus Strong and Keyshawn Blacklock tonight.

I think Oklahoma is going to be a very real contender for Strong and is working to finalize his official visit.

Blacklock was less commital about anything but the way he describes as his 'kind of coach' makes me think Bill Bedenbaugh could be a very natural fit.

I'll have more in WOKE in the morning.

Lower bowl preferably. Boomer!

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BV went 52 minutes, but there were a lot of feature questions. Here's some of the best of the best non-feature questions.

I have five tickets in section 1 row 25 seats 5-9. Face Value $125.00 each and they all have chair backs. You can call or text me at 405-919-4364

2 tickets lower level 20 row 52. Call or Text 580-830-0196

Truly a story we haven't paid enough attention to. Chilling hearing him talk about the experience of being carted off the field. So, so lucky it wasn't more serious than it was.

Seems like a really good guy, too.

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***************************************************************************************************

Lunch: What-A-Burger

We'll get this going around 11:15a.

I watch the news every morning while getting ready for work. I've seen this tragic story about this poor little girl and her family from Grove. She's fighting for her life and her family needs help. Their GoFundMe is mentioned multiple times a day on the local news and they've received 41 donations. 41. Gabe is right, as Oklahomans, we do what we always do, take care of each other. I don't understand why this poor family hasn't reached their goal.



Rant over, sorry guys and gals

Nine guys, the most ever for a single day.

Damond Harmon
How you doing?
It was very scary for me, I'm not gonna lie. Like, not being able to feel the right side of my body was pretty crazy. And I didn't know what was gonna happen for me. So I was kind of like more scared than hurt. Like, more scared than anything. I was breathing super super super hard trying to just think about what was really going on — and it was just a whole lot. But the recovery process wasn't bad. You know, it was pretty easy if you ask me. And I'm back full go.

So how long did it take for that sensation to come back — hospital, ambulance?
It was at the hospital. You know, my lips and everything was numb. So when I got to the hospital, I just kind of like prayed. As soon as we pulled into the hospital, I started praying.
I got a tattoo on my wrist of my uncle, he passed away when I was little, and I just prayed, I touched my wrist, and literally like, 15 minutes after I got into a hospital bed, all the feeling came back, literally.

What do you remember about the play?
I remember everything on the play. I was on a fit. I came down, I made a tackle and then that's when everything just went black.

Watch film?
Yes, I looked at the film of it. I kinda went to my knees to make the tackle instead of like putting my whole body on him, and it put my head and neck in a bad position. So I caught a knee to hit and my head just jerk all the way — my head actually jerked all the way back.

They tell you what it was? Bad stinger?
Yeah, just a bad stinger. And a concussion.

In uniform again?
Amazing. I was so happy. I had always been in warmups and stuff like that when I was out, but being able to put my pads back on and be out there with the family and the guys, I missed it. I was always around, but it feels totally different when you’re around it and when you’re actually in it with them and watching them struggle, struggling with them and going through everything together. It just hit different. It was amazing.

Hesitant?
No, me and my mom, we’re fighters. We’ve been through a whole lot. Literally, I feel like another reason I play free is because of my mom. She’s saying to get back out there and do what you do best. Play the game you love. Do it for who you do it for. It’s that simple.


Anton Harrison
Run game?
I feel like we’ve been improving good. We just started being more physical. I feel like our physicality has been good. Our effort, finishing on the second and third levels. Getting our running backs in space. Getting them one on ones has really been improving our run game a lot. Just knowing our keys and what the defense is doing. I feel like us being in the film room, knowing the defense has been at an all-time high right now. We still have a lot to get better at, and that’s what we’re trying to do is get better every day.

Why has OL turned corner?
I’d say trust. Us trusting each other more. Us really being bought in and everybody knowing what they’re doing. Everybody wanting to do their job and doing their best to do their job. I feel like that’s key right now.

Watching EG?
The cuts he makes. It’s crazy. I feel like he never goes down with the first person, never lets the first person tackle him. I hear that all the time with what Coach Murray and Coach Lebby telling him to never go down from the first person. I see that a lot and love watching him run the ball.


Billy Bowman
Brace?
The brace, I just wear it. I like it, actually, for comfort and for stability. I can go out there and play without it, but why take that risk? Somebody can fall on my knee or something like that. I just wear it for stability. I like it. It’s that type of deal.

Play vs. TCU? Think season was over?
No, I didn’t think my season would be over. Once I got off the ground and kind of limping, I thought I might have a chance to come back in the game. But once I started running on the sideline and stuff, I knew my knee was wobbly, and there was no coming back in that game.

CB/S interception competition?
It’s really for the whole back seven, linebackers are included. We just try to see who can get that first takeaway and who can change the game. It’s a really good competitive thing because we’re out there trying to get something accomplished.


Reggie Grimes
Defense making strides?
We're making our layups. That's the main thing. Earlier in the year the big plays that other teams would get were just because we weren't making our easy plays so now that we've started to make our layups it's time to force teams to be more one-dimensional in a sense and find different ways to beat us. Now that we're doing that, it opens up a lot more people to make plays. JK got a sack, you know what I mean? And that's one of my guys. I love how hard he works, I love the success for him. With that being stated again, when we do our job, when we're all right, when we're all good, man, we're a tough out.

Things are positive, regardless of stats?
Absolutely. Especially through the by week, I think I made a lot of strides just with technique, just with physicality, stuff like that. Stuff that may not show up on the stat sheet, that's fine. Okay but you can just take the individual player and look at the impact that he has, I think that's more important than all the big stats. Take a guy like Ethan Downs. Ethan, great kid, great guy, and you see. You see it in his plays. He's a real physical dude. Take Jonah Laulu, another physical guy. Jalen Redmond. Jalen Redmond, Isaiah Coe, you've got all these big physical guys who do a lot of things that, again, probably won't show up on the stat sheet but it does show up when the guys make a play because of the guys up front. So again, when you take a guy like me who does a lot of things right, a lot of things correct, and who may not necessarily have the stats that he wants per se right now but I know I'm doing my job to help my team. Again, after everything we've been through I think that's the most I can ask for right now. And I'm OK with that.

Baylor's last-second FG last yr?
Yeah, that was, again, the fans rushing the field, we had a lot of guys had a lot of stuff said to them and stuff getting thrown at us and stuff like that. So that part was obviously disheartening and then we're all in the locker room just ready for it to be over and they said they have a few seconds left so we still have to get 11 guys back out there. That part was also frustrating because we all knew the end result that we were already in the locker room so going to go back out there.

Baylor rushing the field last yr? Thoughts about Mich-MSU debacle?
I think what gets lost in translation is that when you take even the least protective guy that you have on the field, they're still a D-1 athlete as opposed to just a normal fan. So, I think people should just watch how they act, watch what they say to other people. And that's just in general but especially you have this game that's played with a lot of emotion. I'm not saying that's right but sometimes that emotion just pours out in other non-productive ways so I think that the main thing is just having class. Having class when we win, having class when we lose. It's the biggest thing that I have, especially with whole Michigan State situation, man, it's a black mark on the sport of football because it's like you already have a bad rap as football players so you've got to keep it between the lines and once the game is over everything that I might have said, might have done in the game, that's it. Because that's between 14 and whatever the other jersey number is. Now it's just Reggie. So Reggie as a person has nothing against you. But 14, that's a different mindset that you have to have. You have to be a little crazy with them. You do, right? Once the final is done, win, loss or draw, it's just hey, good game. Congratulations or best of luck with the rest of the season and walk off. That's it.


Dillon Gabriel
Getting Marvelous back on track?
I think in life, shoot, not everyone’s gonna be perfect and Marv’s been pretty damn good for a bunch of time. But shoot he just had a bad day and had some catches he wanted back. But for the most part he’s my guy and he’s our guy so you know just continue to feed him and continue to instill confidence that he already has. But he obviously felt just tough about the day but he came out like a pro on Monday and just came back to work. So I’m proud of him and just love the guy that he is every single day.

Keep working on the deep balls?
Yeah I mean I’ve always had that mentality to just continue to sling it and not being afraid to or being gun shy. So I continue to, you know, to chew away and try to make it happen. But I know we’re really close and just continue to work at it and eventually it’ll fall our way.

Baylor D?
I think Baylor’s physical, so it’s a bunch of guys that know their system very well. They do what they’re supposed to do. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. We have to take advantage of the mistakes they do make.


Marvin Mims
Bounce back?
Basically just drop it, learn from it and keep going. We've got another week. We're blessed enough to be able to play another week, so I'm just ready to keep going and have fun out here with my teammates. Just drop it, keep going and learn from it.

Does it feel good that Jeff Lebby wants to go back to you?
Yeah, it was good to hear that. It was definitely needed. It was nice for him to have that type of trust in me and my teammates too. They were just on the sideline talking to me and stuff like that, so it was good.

Baylor's FG last yr?
I remember that. I thought it was kind of cool how they rushed the field. I personally didn't know there was still a second left. I just thought it was the end of the game. Then Coach was pretty pissed off about it and stuff like that, so he told us to go to the locker room. Just like the emotion of that, I'm pretty sure that was our first loss of the season. At the end of the day, we didn't play our best game. They got the best of us that day. But it's a new year, new battle and a new fight. It's a whole new team, so we're ready to go back at it.

WR blocking?
That's definitely something we pride ourselves in, just blocking and getting after it on the perimeter. We're just trying to get the better of everybody. We know Eric is going to break some tackles and get loose, so we try to hold everyone as long as we can.

BV's personal message to you after ISU?
He just told me 'Stay with it. We have belief in you. We're going to trust you to stay with it. We're going to keep you out there. Just keep going and lead this team.' I needed that, definitely. Especially from Brent Venables. He's a defensive coach, so we really don't hear much of him on offense. For him to come over and tell me that was really important.


DaShaun White
Defense at ISU?
“We’re playing good, but we left a lot out there, to be honest with you. But I think the most important things we brought [are] just physicality and playing together, having fun, and just doing our job well. I think that’s probably as far as we could take it, is that we did it well. I think we could do a lot better job. That’s a team that — a lot of us feel like we shouldn’t have been scored on Saturday now that you can go back and look. We kind of gave them some things, but still pretty happy with the all-around team performance.”

Cheetah?
“Way more comfortable. I feel like there’s a lot of things this whole time that I did at a pretty high level. So you just put reps on top of those things and kind of get to a place where I feel like I’m pretty comfortable. I can only imagine where I’ll be in a few weeks.”

Last year Baylor game?
“Unfortunately, I didn’t get to play in this game last year. I had the flu or whatever. They held me out of it. I remember kind of watching, they were getting a lot of the Q-run stuff with the sniffer coming back to the field. They were abusing it. I remember seeing that over and over again and just being upset that I couldn’t play.”

FG at the end?
“Honestly that was a little bit embarrassing. Another one of those instances where I was kind of sick to my stomach I couldn’t be there, just put my two cents in that day. (He mentions he was at the team hotel for the game).


Woodi Washington
Eight games into the new D. How long did it take to grasp where you need to be?
“Those losses kind of helped us out a lot. Think guys were playing to not make a mistake in those earlier games. Now we’ve kind of figured it out. Go play fast. If you make a mistake, just make it fast. At the end of the day we make it fast. Not making slow mistakes and it’ll be easy for us.”

Worried about making mistakes in front of new staff?
“For sure. Not for me. I’m pretty much prepared most of the time. And even when I’m not, I just try to play as fast as I can. But I think for the linebackers and especially the D-line, just fitting those gaps and knowing which gaps you’re supposed to be in. Gap integrity and things like that. If you miss a gap then it’s going to make an explosive play.”

Getting Bowman back?
“He gives us a lot more depth, especially in the safety room. Because I know we were lacking in a couple of those games. We really need those guys and they make a lot of plays.”

Let's Go Astros!

I see Mattress Mack is sitting front row behind the Astros dug out. He has a $10 million bet riding on the series.

We do focus on the rankings, but it appears the mild cats have not had a top 50 class in 6 years. Something to ponder.

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OU will likely play in at least one of the 3 cities next year:
Provo
Orlando
Cincinnati

I have 4 tickets but will not be able to make the game unfortunately. Let me know if you want em.

It suck that the OU can’t get plan A on the major needs on Defense, DT- nose or 1 tec and Safety

yes I know and understand it was the first full year and they have the portal but sorry I don’t have faith in the portal at those 2 spot not true good game changing players

Pics of his girlfriend? Whos' got em?

Thx