Fall Camp Day 5: New Masks, Pads Delayed, Gundy Delayed, but Football Still Going
STILLWATER -- Anyone driving by the Sherman Smith Training Center around nine o'clock this morning and seeing the facility empty and no pedestrian traffic crossing Hall of Fame from the West End Zone, might have wondered if the Cowboys football season had gone the way of the Mid-American Conference or the rumors of the direction the Big Ten is heading.
The truth is the Cowboys practice was delayed while they waited on some new equipment to help keep the players safe from the COVID-19. The team had tried the splash shields, but so many players had issues with the fogging up or outright claustrophobic feeling from wearing them that equipment coordinator Justin Williams found a solution. The new football strength gaiter masks arrived in time to get passed out and practice started at 10:30 a.m.
Transfer wide receiver Dee Anderson shows off the new custom gaiter masks the Cowboys are now wearing instead of using the splash shields attached to the helmet.
Bruce Waterfield - Oklahoma State University Athletics
The team held off with going in full pads for the first time on Monday and stayed with helmet and shoulder pads. With the expected opening game delayed into September, still likely Sept. 12 hosting Tulsa, there is no rush to ramp up camp quite as quickly as originally scheduled.
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy was supposed to meet on a Zoom call with the media after the Monday practice, but even before the delay the decision was made to hold off on that with all of the uncertainty with college football swirling around. Oklahoma State associate athletic director for media relations Gavin Lang said the media availability with Gundy would be rescheduled for later in the week.
The uncertainty continued throughout Monday as the national media bickered after the Detroit Free Press reported first that the Big Ten had taken a vote and by a 12-2 margin (Nebraska and Iowa dissenting) decided to cancel football and fall sports. Later multiple outlets, including The Athletic, said a Big Ten administrator informed them no vote had been taken. The Big Ten presidents were scheduled to meet on Monday at 5 p.m. (central).
The big news, in our opinion, was the players coming out and taking a stand for wanting to play. Zach Lancaster on our staff documented Chuba Hubbard's involvement as the Cowboys running back was contacted by Clemson running back Darien Rencher and Tigers Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Travor Lawrence. Hubbard jumped in and even re-opened his Twitter accout to join the group of players from across the nation known as #WeWantToPlay.
The players met via Zoom late Sunday evening and pushed out their message. The group actually combined the Pac-12 #WeAreUnited group of players that sent a list of demands to the Conference and it's schools via The Player's Tribune along with the #BigTenUnited group with other players from the other conferences.
In a strange twist the #WeWantToPlay group got a re-tweet and response from President Donald Trump.
The other major news came later in the afternoon when Oklahoma State graduate and college football insider for Stadium broke the story that the Mountain West Conference had joined the MAC in cancelling football and fall sports for the fall semester.
The general consensus in the media is the SEC is leading the way on wanting to be patient and working to play football this fall and they are hoping that other conferences, primarily the Big 12 and the ACC will be with them. There is also the thought, in some cases rumor, that some Big Ten schools, such as Nebraska and even Ohio State, would want to join another league in order to play this season.
Forget rumor, Nebraska head coach Scott Frost said as much in a post practice Zoom conference with media and then Ohio State head coach Ryan Day echoed virtually the same sentiment. Both coaches saying if the Big Ten did not play that they would want to "explore other options."
All the news is enough to make your head spin. Forget "head on a swivel," all of this is causing heads to spin like a top.
Practice at Oklahoma State may have been late, but it was another solid two hour plus workout. Progress continued to be made on special teams as the kickoff return unit got a full working over with breakdown drills and a look at several return possibilities including LD Brown, Landon Wolf, Dillon Stoner, Braydon Johnson, and freshman Brennan Presley.
I spoke with offensive line coach Charlie Dickey and found out some of the things that I was imagining were true as the versatility of players like Hunter Woodard and Hunter Anthony was helping a lot. Tyrese Williams has improved and overall the youth on the offensive line from the 2018 and 2019 recruiting classes is bringing much more depth and competition to the practices. It's a definite iron sharpening iron process.
Defense and their ability to get off blocks in the front seven is creating a great challenge for the offensive line and Dickey counts that as a plus. Trace Ford, Tyler Lacy, and linebackers like Malcolm Rodriguez and Devin Harper, who is having a strong camp really pose a challenge for the offense overall.
Still, this is Oklahoma State on offense and they are always going to have some big plays. Running back Dezmon Jackson had some highlights and one of the biggest highlights of the practice according to one staff member was a pass play from Spencer Sanders to guess who, Tylan Wallace.
Oklahoma State will be back on the field, at the regular scheduled fall camp time, of 8:45 for the pre practice run thru on Tuesday.
