Lincoln Riley: In wake of WVU cancellation, 'we would play' Ohio State if Ryan Day called
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said his team experienced “five seconds of disappointment” when he told them Thursday that this week’s season finale at West Virginia had been canceled.
The Mountaineers have paused football activities because of an outbreak of COVID-19, the Big 12 announced Thursday morning, so the Sooners will finish the regular season 7-2 going into next week’s Big 12 Championship Game.
During an impromptu 20-minute Zoom call with beat reporters on Thursday afternoon, Riley said he had concern that his team will stage an all-important rematch with Iowa State next week having played just one game in the past 28 days. The Sooners’ played Oklahoma State on Nov. 21, had the WVU game postponed from Nov. 28, played Baylor on Dec. 5 and now have had their Dec. 12 game at WVU canceled.
“That’s absolutely a factor,” Riley said.
Reminded that Ohio State had an opening this weekend following the cancellation of its game with Michigan, Riley didn’t laugh.
What if Buckeyes coach Ryan Day called Riley to schedule something for Saturday?
“We would play,” Riley said.
Asked if he was serious, Riley doubled down.
“Yeah, no doubt we would play,” he said. “We would love to play.
“Listen, I know the logistics — wanting to play and actually being able to make that happen, I understand, are two different things. There’s so, so much to go through. You’re talking about different leagues that are doing testing differently, I mean, playing a game right now is not as — it’s never simple, but it’s not quite as simple as it used to be. From a competitive standpoint, we would love to play. There’s no doubt about it. But I mean, the feasibility of doing something on that late a notice, with all the procedures and all that, I don’t see it happening.”
Riley was asked if WVU had canceled earlier in the week if OU would have had enough time to schedule a game for this weekend.
“Hard to say,” Riley said. “Had that scenario come up, maybe it’s something you look at it. But by the time we knew it was a possibility here, it wasn’t a part of our conversations.”
Riley acknowledged that having to stop practice in the middle of a walk-through to prepare for the Mountaineers to tell his team they weren’t playing was “awkward.”
“Yeah, I would chalk that up under things I never thought I would have to do in this job,” he said. “Yeah, there’s a little bit of awkwardness to it, but I mean, there’s five seconds of disappointment, and then it’s on to the next challenge. By the time our guys walked out of there, they were excited to start preparing for this next one.”
OU plays Iowa State on Dec. 19 in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. It’s Oklahoma’s fourth consecutive trip to the Big 12 title game since the game rebooted in 2017, and the Sooners are seeking their sixth straight conference championship.
Oklahoma (7-2) lost at Iowa State (8-2) on Oct. 3. The Cyclones prevailed 37-30 after overcoming a double-digit deficit.
The Sooners started 0-2 in Big 12 play for the first time since 1998, but haven’t lost since returning from Ames and are chasing their 14th crown in a league that is in just its 25th season.
Even with a couple extra days now to prep for the Cyclones, Riley said he’s not sure how much either team can glean from their previous meeting.
“It is a little different this year in that that game happened right there at the beginning of the season for both of us,” he said, “so I'm sure both teams have evolved like you do throughout the year. I'm sure it'll be a part of it, but certainly not all of it.”
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