Stogner banged up, but Riley says of H-backs, "we've got a lot of trust in the entire room"

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley addresses Austin Stogner and Spencer Rattler's injury issues, says both will play against Oklahoma State

As Oklahoma heads into a bye week with a huge Bedlam showdown on deck, the health of Spencer Rattler and Austin Stogner are the most preeminent concerns in the eyes of Sooner Nation.

However, in his Monday morning teleconference, Lincoln Riley flatly stated that neither player's availability is in question going forward.

"They’re both fine," said Riley. "If we played this week, they’d both be fine. So, I mean, we’ll use it to our advantage, but it wouldn’t be a determining factor on them playing or not."

Stogner left the game Saturday after taking a piercing hit on a downfield reception, and Rattler was visibly hobbled after absorbing a hit to the hip from Kansas safety Ricky Thomas on a second-quarter touchdown scramble.

The open date offers a chance for Oklahoma to get back to full health, and Riley sounded optimistic that H-back Brayden Willis would return Nov. 21 against Oklahoma State. Willis has missed all but one game in 2020.

"Brayden’s doing well," Riley said. "I think he’s really, really close. So we’ll see how he develops here, how he continues to respond to treatment and all that over the next several days. But I think he’s certainly getting pretty close."

With Stogner and Willis licking their respective wounds, the Sooners are all the more fortunate to have tremendous depth at H-back. Jeremiah Hall's four touchdown catches are second on the team, and true freshman Mikey Henderson is making a strong case for more playing time. It's a position of strength for Oklahoma, and Riley says all four players have proven their mettle as capable contributors.

"Yeah, I think we’ve got a lot of trust in the entire room," Riley remarked. "Those guys have done a nice job. Mikey’s one of those guys that has been able to take advantage that some of the time that Brayden has missed. Some of the reps that he’s been able to get, developing more and more, developing more trust from his teammates and his coaches, and that’s provided some more opportunities."

Henderson accrued 44 total yards on just two touches (one carry and one reception) in Saturday's victory over the Jayhawks. In the Sooners' Halloween drubbing of Texas Tech, he recorded his first career touchdown on a 6-yard scoring run.

"He’s a talented, explosive player that’s got a really fun skill set," Riley said of Henderson, a high school quarterback whom Oklahoma recruited as an athlete. "So the more trust he can build, the more opportunities he’s gonna get."

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