This isn't a regular franchise element on the site (I guess it may become one moving forward), but I realized there were several storylines in the current news cycle that required some analysis, so I decided to take what brief window I have on this Monday afternoon and put some thoughts into words prior to tonight's post-practice player interviews.

Obviously, Oklahoma is fresh off a 51-3 win over Temple that prompted many different reactions (and overreactions) from the fans, so let's dig into three major topics of discussion with regard to both the team and the 2025 recruiting cycle.

I've had the opportunity to noodle on this a little bit more over the last couple of days, and a few members have brought it to my attention that Gabe Ikard addressed this very issue in the Oklahoma Breakdown podcast, so I'm glad I'm not the only one that found myself wondering. Here's what I can't quite figure: why was Geirean Hatchett, who's obviously not 100 percent, getting the nod at center over Josh Bates? Why move everyone except Febechi Nwaiwu in response to Branson Hickman's injury? That injury prompted Bill Bedenbaugh to shift Hatchett from left guard to center, Jacob Sexton from left tackle to left guard, and Michael Tarquin from right tackle to left tackle. Spencer Brown then entered the game at right tackle. Would it not have been simpler to substitute Bates for Hickman one-for-one?

Bill Bedenbaugh has made some surprising personnel decisions in the past, and they've generally worked (i.e. moving Tyrese Robinson from left guard to right tackle in 2021, or sending a true freshman into the hornet's nest that is the Cotton Bowl to block T'Vondre Sweat last fall). If there is a simple answer to the question I posed, it's that there's more confidence to be found in sending Brown out to play right tackle than there is in sending Bates out to play center. But the follow-up question, especially after the way that things played out on Friday, is how? How on earth was there any confidence in Brown's ability to hold down the fort at RT?

Given the prognosis that Brent Venables shared on Friday night, I'm not under the impression that Hickman plays this weekend against Houston. And there's not much of a reason to rush him back to action against a team like Houston, which just lost 27-7 to UNLV on Saturday. If the Sooners can't beat the Cougars by at least three or four possessions, you have larger problems than who's playing center.