No letdowns for Beeler

Ask any football coach and they'll tell you it's next to impossible to stay up for every single game, especially after you beat a big-time rival. You always have to be on upset alert after a rivalry victory. But the good news for Jenks, Okla., is that the Trojans have another big-time battle ahead of themselves when offensive guard Chase Beeler and Co. battle Springdale, Ark.

"They're quite a team," Beeler, ranked as the nation's No. 29 offensive guard by Rivals.com, said.

"We're really looking forward to playing them on the road, and the game is on ESPN U on Friday night. The coaches are working us really hard this week."

Part of that extra work stems from last season when Jenks beat cross-town rival Tulsa Union during the regular season but never seemed to play at that same level the rest of the season.

"They're really seeing to it that we don't get complacent," the No. 9 prospect in Oklahoma said. "That was one of the big problems last year. We got satisfied after beating Union. I feel like we didn't get much better after that game last year. We're not going to let that happen this year.

"The coaches are happy with the win, but they're still pushing us hard."

And leading the way pushing the hardest is Beeler, who has had a masterful senior season and his recruiting stock is starting to soar. Against Union, Beeler went head-to-head against fellow recruit Chase Nelson. Most observers at the came said Beeler manhandled Nelson and deserves to be ranked higher than him in the state rankings.

It's that type of play that has programs from all over the nation recruiting him hard. He has offers already from Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Baylor, Colorado State, Iowa State and Missouri. He received a call out of the blue from North Carolina last week and Oklahoma indicated that its just days away from offering him.

"I went up to Oklahoma last weekend with my cousin and my brother, and we know a lot of the guys that play for Tulsa so it was a great game for us to go watch," he said. "We've got quite a few Jenks alums playing in the game. I was a little surprised at how close the game was.

"But then we went into the locker room and heard the coaches talk to the team. They weren't too upset with the way they played. They said they made progress and were pleased with how the team grew up a lot since that first game."

Beeler said he had time to talk to Sooner offensive line coach Kevin Wilson after the game.

"We talked about the lack of depth they have at offensive line," Beeler said. "Coach Wilson originally said they were planning on taking four or five offensive linemen, but now they're taking seven or eight. He said he wanted to breakdown the Union tape and unless I was horrible in it than I would likely have an offer pretty quickly."

But the Sooners aren't the only in-state team pushing hard to get Beeler.

The 6-foot-4, 275-pounder took an official visit two weeks ago to Oklahoma State for the Cowboys' first game against Montana State. He said he took the early official visit at a special request by OSU assistant coach Joe Wickline.

"Coach Wickline has been really clear that he wants me to understand that I'm one of their No. 1 prospects," Beeler said. "He wanted it to be abundantly clear that I'm right at the top of their offensive line board."

Beeler said he had a good time in Stillwater, even though he plans to take a bit longer in his decision-making process.

"It was a productive trip," he said. "I got there about 10:30 in the morning, and I talked with coach (Mike) Gundy and coach Wickline. Then we went and ate with the university president and his wife. Then we went and talked with a professor from the political science department.

"I was able to then go break some film down with coach Wickline and I found out that we run basically the same type of offense that they do. I'd be a good fit there, but my plan is to kick back and enjoy the rest of my senior season. I don't want to cheat myself and not take some other visits."