ESPN’s Desmond Howard Recounts Last Trip to Oklahoma: ‘I Was Drugged Up’

NORMAN — Desmond Howard doesn’t remember much about his last trip to Oklahoma.

Howard, one of the hosts on ESPN’s College GameDay, made the trip to Norman last year for OU’s Week 4 showdown against Tennessee.

College GameDay first aired in 1987 and has come to Norman nine times. Howard — a former Heisman Trophy-winning wide receiver for Michigan — has been a host for the show since 2005, previewing several OU games in his two decades with the program.

Last year, though, Howard was under the weather. He said he dealt with a sciatic nerve issue before, during and after the show, making his experience miserable.

“My back went out while I was here,” Howard said. “My coworkers call it my ‘flu game.’”

The majority of the College GameDay telecast occurs on a stage in the middle of whichever campus that the show attends on a given week. At Oklahoma, the setup has traditionally been on the South Oval of Oklahoma’s campus.

While the hosts spend most of their time sitting at the desk on stage, they also move around the set to various locations like the jumbotron or the demo field, where the hosts are often interactive with fans in attendance.

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Howard felt like the GameDay team moved more than usual at last year’s show in Norman.

“I have to look at the tape… We don’t sit on the set for three hours,” Howard said. “I think that’s the most movement we’ve ever had on our show. I’m like, ‘Damn, we gotta get up again? I have to go to the jumbotron?’ I kept having to walk back and forth, it was ridiculous.”

The game that the GameDay previewed was the beginning of the end for the Sooners last year.

Oklahoma fell 25-15 at home to Tennessee in its first-ever SEC game after starting the year 3-0. The Sooners lost five of their next eight games and ended the regular season 6-6.

Still, Howard has no recollection of talking about the game for three hours.

“I was on drugs. I was doped up,” Howard said. “I was on painkillers. I was trying to get through the damn show. Horrible experience for me.”

Howard — not dealing with a back issue and not on painkillers this time — expects the matchup between No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 15 Michigan to be one of the best games of the 2025 season.

The Sooners, after a disappointing 2024 campaign, come in with a reloaded offense and high hopes after beating Illinois State 35-3 in Week 1. Michigan is led by true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2025, and beat New Mexico 34-17 last week.

While Howard doesn’t remember much — or anything — about last year’s trip to Norman, the host and former college football knows plenty about the passion that Sooner fans have for their team.

And because of that, Howard expects a great turnout for both College GameDay and Saturday’s game.

“This is a community that takes a lot of pride in their Sooners,” Howard said. “You can’t go anywhere without somebody saying ‘Boomer’ or ‘Sooner.’ We always get a great turnout when we come here.”

College GameDay will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, while kickoff between the Sooners and Wolverines is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.