According to Carey Murdock, running back Marcus Major has been ruled academically ineligible.

Happy Tuesday, friends and fans!

In some rather unfortunate news, Sooner Scoop’s Carey Murdock has reported that Oklahoma Sooners redshirt sophomore running back Marcus Major has been ruled academically ineligible for the 2021 college football season.

Major, an Oklahoma City product out of Millwood HS, was expected to take on an increased role in OU’s backfield this fall, and was likely the third RB on the depth chart going into the 2021 campaign. Over the course of his first two seasons, he recorded 215 yards and three touchdowns on 45 total carries.

Of course, this goes down as yet another blow to Oklahoma’s running back depth. With Rhamondre Stevenson now playing for the New England Patriots and Seth McGowan’s offseason dismissal (along with hybrid H-back Mikey Henderson), it’s quickly becoming an area of concern as the season is less than two weeks away from kicking-off.

As it stands now, redshirt junior Kennedy Brooks and junior Tennessee transfer Eric Gray are the only Sooner RBs who have any amount of significant experience at the collegiate level. Outside of that, sophomore LSU transfer Tre Bradford logged a small amount of reps during his lone season in Baton Rouge, but that might have to change quickly with this latest development surrounding Major.

Now onto today’s Hot Links! Spencer Rattler finds himself on yet another awards watch list, Lincoln Riley talks about some interesting depth chart developments, CFB’s latest alliance is as lame as it sounds and more!

OU Links

• This offseason, there are a number of Sooners who have garnered preseason All-American attention. Here’s a comprehensive rundown of all the reputable publications and organizations that have recognized the likes of Nik Bonitto, Gabe Brkic, Kennedy Brooks, Marvin Mims, Spencer Rattler, Jalen Redmond and Perrion Winfrey. Simply put, this team is LOADED.

• On Tuesday, redshirt sophomore QB Spencer Rattler was named to the 2021 Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List — an annual honor that recognizes the nation’s top upperclassman quarterback. Heisman Trophy winner Jason White (2004) is the lone OU player to claim this coveted award in program history.

• Lincoln Riley recently shed some light on the state of the QB depth chart going into the 2021 season. Apparently, there will be a surprise third stringer after Rattler and Caleb Williams in the form of walk-on true freshman Ralph Rucker. Also, Tanner Schafer seems to be going the Riley route in his QB journey, as he’ll apparently be serving as more of a student coach than he is as a player.

• Looks like sophomore WR Marvin Mims will continue his duties as Oklahoma’s top choice at punt returner. Also, Drake Stoops will see more reps there as well, while the kick return situation is still developing.

• The NFL recently rated its top 100 active players, and three former Sooners have made this year’s cut. The Cleveland Browns’ Baker Mayfield is slated at No. 71, the San Francisco 49ers’ Trent Williams checks in at No. 42, and the Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray has climbed up to No. 39. Boomer! Personally, I believe both Mark Andrews and Joe Mixon deserve some consideration for this list, but I digress.

Around the Sports World

• It’s official. The Pac-12, Big Ten and ACC conferences have formed a future scheduling alliance across all sports. This is no doubt in direct response to the SEC’s recent acquisition of Oklahoma and Texas — unofficially making it the first super conference of the modern era. On the surface, it’s hard not to look at this as a desperate attempt at power relevancy, and in all reality, this does next-to-nothing to add real strength to any of the schedules involved. Also, IT’S NOT EVEN AN OFFICIAL ALLIANCE, JUST A HANDSHAKE DEAL.
• On Tuesday, the Texas Tech Red Raiders have named Oregon Ducks transfer Tyler Shough as their next starting QB entering the 2021 college football season.
• Jacksonville Jaguars rookie RB Travis Etienne has been ruled out for likely the entire 2021 NFL season after suffering a mid-foot sprain (Lisfranc injury) against the New Orleans Saints on Monday night.
• Orlando Magic guard Michael Carter-Williams has recently undergone surgery on his left ankle and is expected to miss at least the start of the 2021-22 NBA season.
• Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Caleb Smith has been suspended by the MLB for 10 games after it was determined that he applied an illegal foreign substance on his glove last week against the Philadelphia Phillies.

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