Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley was back addressing the media Monday afternoon as the Sooners get ready for Bedlam at Oklahoma State. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the 30-minute press conference.

Game No. 12: Bedlam at OSU (7 p.m., FOX)

Take No. 1: Hurts’ ball security highlighting 90/10 dilemma

Simple view is OU was incredibly consistent in its first seven games and has fallen apart in the last four, with peaks and valleys along the way.

Riley has a much different view. He doesn’t necessarily agree the team was humming along in the first half of the year, and he definitely doesn’t see the team as being in a borderline freefall during the last month.

You could call it a 90 percent vs. 10 percent issue.

“I think 90 percent of what we’re doing right now is drastically improved from where we were at any point early or midseason,” Riley said. “We can’t let that 10 percent just kill us. The 10 percent the last couple of weeks, especially the turnovers, has been so devastating that it’s either put us in a hole like it did against Baylor or kept the game close the other night that, in our opinion, shouldn’t have been very close. We can’t do that. We’ve got to get better.”

There are things OU is doing incredibly well, like the running attack vs. TCU and the overall defensive outings of the last six quarters.

But that 10 percent, like the miscues from quarterback Jalen Hurts, continue to keep OU from reaching the heights everybody believes it can attain.

“I thought in some respects the other night, his ball security had been a huge emphasis point last week. I thought between the tackles and in some of the runs, it was much, much improved. There's still a few that got to get better.

“He's carrying it a lot and he's a little more susceptible to it just because the last couple weeks he's carried it over 25 times a game. But for us to win and be able to separate, got to hang onto it. That's just plain and simple.”

Take No. 2: Big 12 defenses are good? Really?

It’s going to take a long time before national perception changes among the conference, but it’s hard to deny the defensive improvement shown by the league’s 10 teams this season.

Case in point would be last Saturday in Norman. A 28-24 game between OU and TCU that has been, you know, 52-46 before in Fort Worth.

There are still some head-scratching moments, but the physicality of the league is making a return. A lot of hard hits, leading to things like Hurts’ fumbling repeatedly here down the stretch.

““We were talking as an offensive staff, I think the league, defensively right now, this is a good defensive league right now,” Riley said. “I don't care what people want to say on the outside. It is. There's a lot of good defenses in the league right now, including ours. It's a physical league. There have been a lot of very, very physical games.”

You look at the quality of the coaching, and the parity in the league is a lot different. The gap between Nos. 1-10 not nearly what it has been like in previous years.

Take No. 3: Cowboy adjustments

Halfway through the season, everybody was geared up to see how OSU’s Spencer Sanders, Chuba Hubbard and Tylan Wallace were going to fare against OU’s improved defense.

Clearly, that equation has changed with the ACL injury for Wallace and the thumb ailment keeping Sanders out of Saturday’s game.

The Cowboys have been able to figure it out, however. Dru Brown could be ready for his Bedlam moment, and oh yea, that guy Hubbard is simply the best running back in the entire country.

“Certainly, playing with a new quarterback, even though this guy’s been at their place and played a lot of ball, it’s not like they’re bringing some freshman off the bench that had never played,” Riley said. “Hard to say how much different it will be. There’s just not a ton to study there.

“Chuba, I said the other night, he’s fantastic. He’s had an elite year. They’ve done a great job using him, the line’s done a good job blocking for him. He’s got a great combination. He’s got breakaway speed, power, he’s caught the ball all year, made several plays in the passing game.

Still need more?

“He’s certainly one of the best backs we’ve had in the league in a long time,” Riley said.

Plus one: Don’t forget about the OU passing game

Back-to-back games of the OU offense grinding out drives and not using tempo and quick strikes, and it’s tough for some to comprehend.

Add in a game like TCU where the Sooners relied so much on the running game that almost made you wonder the confidence level of the passing game.

Don’t misinterpret things, though. If OU has to win the game through the air, Riley is not afraid to do what the Sooners have always done.

“I always come down to, what’s your formula for winning this game? And sometimes you have an idea going in and that definitely can shift and fluctuate as the game unfolds,” Riley said. “There’s a lot of factors in it. I will say this, us running the football the way we did the other night had a lot more to do with just how well we were running it as it was to any lack of confidence in our throwing game.

“I’ll take our quarterback and our receivers against anybody, but when you’re running it like we were it was hard honestly – I didn’t have much reason to stop. We ran it really well against a team that defends the run very, very well. That was really exciting.”