Riley not pleased that Beaty working for Texas
Texas coach Tom Herman calls it “standard” that David Beaty, whose tenure as the Kansas football coach ended Friday, has agreed to assist the Longhorns in preparation for the Big 12 Championship Game against OU. But Sooner coach Lincoln Riley doesn’t like it.
“Coach Beaty can do what he wants to do,” Riley said Monday. “I don’t like the precedent of it, of being able to bring in somebody from the league in the same year. I don’t think it’s good for the conference. It’s not against the rules, and if they want to do it, that’s fine.”
Wintry weather prevented Beaty from flying to Austin from Kansas City on Monday as planned. But Herman defended using Beaty as a consultant.
“It’s pretty standard stuff, I don’t know why it’s that big of a deal,” Herman said.
Beaty was fired a few weeks ago but was allowed to finish out KU’s season, which ended with a 24-17 loss to Texas last Friday.
“My thoughts are, anytime you have an opportunity to gain some knowledge of what an opponent saw of you in their breakdowns of you, you want to see that,” Herman said. “We’ve had some very productive conversations ... more about, ‘hey, what did you see from us? What are our tendencies? Where did you try to attack? Where did you think you could gain an advantage?’”
Ehlinger’s shoulder ‘not great’
Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger’s injured shoulder is “not great,” Herman said Monday. But that’s no cause for alarm.
“It hasn’t been (great) since the Baylor game,” Herman said. That’s when Ehlinger suffered a shoulder sprain and missed most of a 23-17 Texas victory. But Ehlinger has played through the injury ever since.
“It’s a pain tolerance thing,” Herman said. “If it’s a pain tolerance thing, my money’s on Sam Ehlinger. He’s going to be fine for the game. But it’s definitely something that bothers him.”
Ehlinger’s production hasn’t been affected much by the injury. Before Baylor, Ehlinger completed 65.3 percent of his passes, for 249.8 yards per game and 7.4 yards per pass, with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. Since Baylor, Ehlinger has completed 62.5 percent of his passes, for 248 yards a game and 8.0 yards per pass, with 12 TDs and two interceptions.
Burt vs. OU for 5th time
John Burt is a senior wide receiver for Texas who is redshirting this season. But under the NCAA’s new rule that allows a player to play in a maximum of four games and not lose a year of eligibility, Burt played against the Sooners in October. Even had a catch for nine yards.
Burt also played against OU in 2015, 2016 and 2017, totaling four catches against the Sooners.
And Herman says Burt will play Saturday in the title game.
“If the situation (an OUTexas title game rematch) happens to repeat itself next year,” Herman said, “John Burt will have played against Oklahoma seven times in his career.”