Oklahoma is on a five-game winning streak heading into Saturday’s game at West Virginia.
The Sooners have not lost to the Mountaineers since they joined the Big 12 in 2012.
Lincoln Riley met with reporters during Monday’s Big 12 conference call with reporters. Here are some takeaways:
Bookie’s mistakes
Brendan Radley-Hiles has made some critical mental errors during big games.
During last year’s Peach Bowl, he was charged with a targeting penalty and ejected for a play that he called “very selfish on my part.”
In Saturday’s Bedlam game, his taunting penalty on third down extended an Oklahoma State drive. The Cowboys scored their lone touchdown on the next play.
Riley was asked about the Bedlam penalty during Monday’s call.
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“There’s a line that can’t be crossed,” Riley said. “We love the energy and the intensity and all that that he brings to the game. He certainly brings a lot of that to our team, to our defense, no question about it. But it’s never OK to cross that line with something like that and have a penalty. So it’ll be corrected, it’ll be dealt with and we’ll have to do better going forward.”
How will Radley-Hiles take that coaching moving forward? Will he learn from yet another mistake?
“He gets coached hard here and he’s always responded in a positive way,” Riley said. “So, no, I’ve got no concerns about how he would take it. He’s a mature kid, he’s a team-first guy, and there’s not a player out there more excited when one of his teammates makes plays, or that helps more guys behind the scenes, spends time with guys.
“So he’s a very team-first guy and we’ll expect him to grow from it.”
Beamer to South Carolina?
Shane Beamer’s name has surfaced as a potential candidate for the vacant South Carolina head coach position.
Beamer has been on Oklahoma’s staff since the 2018 season. He’s currently the assistant head coach for offense and tight ends/H-backs coach.
Riley said any chatter linking him to the Gamecocks would not be a distraction during the Sooners’ stretch run this season.
“It won’t be a distraction, because we’ve got guys in here that are professionals and care about this place, care about this team,” Riley said. “Just from a professionalism standpoint, I got no concerns about that.”
Beamer, the son of legendary Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, spent four seasons at South Carolina as an outside linebackers/co-special teams coordinator (2007), cornerbacks (2008) and spurs/strong safeties/special teams coordinator/recruiting coordinator (2009-10).
He’s also served as an associate head coach and running backs coach at Virginia Tech (2011-15) and special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at Georgia (2016-17).
“Shane’s going to be a really good head coach. He’s got great experience, being able to work with several different guys and several different programs, different parts of the country,” Riley said. “And obviously, you know, very inside knowledge from one of the best to ever do it in his dad, Frank Beamer.
“Shane’s got a good way about him. Does a great job with the kids and has been fantastic. I’ll be excited for him. He’s one of those guys that I think certainly will get his opportunity at some point. Obviously, we love having him here. Certainly will be excited for him and any of our other coaches when they get that chance to be a head coach because those just don’t come around very often.”
Extra points
Spencer Rattler and Ronnie Perkins earned Big 12 honors on Monday. Rattler is the league’s offensive player and newcomer of the week, while Perkins was named the defense player of the week. … OU’s kickoff time for the regular-season finale against visiting Baylor on Dec. 5 has not been announced. It will be released on Sunday. … The initial College Football Playoff Top 25 poll will be released on Tuesday. Oklahoma’s position in the first rankings were No. 18 (2014), No. 4 (2015), No. 14 (2016), No. 5 (2017), No. 7 (2018) and No. 9 (2019).