Practice is Here for the Pokes, First Game Further Off
STILLWATER -- Wednesday morning, Aug. 5 at nine a.m. the Oklahoma State Cowboys will make the street crossing from the West End Zone over to the Sherman Smith Training Center and begin fall camp. There will be adjustments as the Cowboys will use more space and more practice fields than ever before in creating social distance and taking precautions to keep as many players as possible on the practice field and out of quarantine.
They will even split up position groups and walk-thrus and team period work so as not to have all players in one position group on the field together in the same proximity.
Social distancing will be conducted some during the Cowboys fall camp practices. Photo by: Robert Allen, Pokes Report publisher
Oklahoma State will also have plenty of time to prepare for the opening game, which with the Big 12 approved "9+1" schedule of nine conference games and on non conference game, will start on Saturday, Sept. 12 with the Cowboys hosting Tulsa. Pokes Report got that confirmed with a source inside Oklahoma State athletics.
Tulsa will actually get a game in ahead of playing the Cowboys if they have no issues with their Sept. 5 opener against University of Toledo. Tulsa also still has all of their non conference games intact on their schedule with
Oklahoma State's start date for fall camp is derived from their originally schedule opener with Oregon State on Thursday, Sept. 3. New NCAA practice policies during the COVID-19 pandemic have lightened up on mandatory dates but practice numbers are still regulated.
According to the NCAA ruling in June that finalized the six-week practice model and fall camps: “The model does not make any adjustments to the legislated 29-day preseason practice period. In the previous example, the school’s preseason practice period would begin Aug. 7 with a five-day acclimatization period, followed by the opportunity for up to 25 on-field practices.”
The hours count is open for Oklahoma State football until classes begin on campus on Monday, Aug. 17. From that point on the team will be on a 20-hour a week practice and meetings schedule. The expectation is they will get 10-11 practices in before the start of classes. Then the remainder of their practices between the start of classes and the opening game on Sept. 12.
The team normally starts with 110-players in fall camp, but that number was relaxed during the summer by the NCAA due to COVID-19.
The NCAA Football Oversight Committee voted to waive the 110-player limit and leave to the discretion of each institution how many athletes it has at camp.
Including walk-ons, Oklahoma State has often had anywhere from 125 to 135 players. Our estimation is the team is in that range currently. The NCAA waived that rule this summer so that any additional athletes who returned to campus for summer conditioning, walk-throughs and meetings didn't have to go home again and could stay in the team community.
Huge additions for this fall camp will be the splash guards that have been added to players helmets along with the shields. The hope is that these will be helpful in stopping the spread of sweat and body fluids from the face area to the face area. The equipment staff will be very busy with football equipment cleaning and disinfecting from the footballs to all of the practice equipment and the players helmets and more. Disinfecting will be going on constantly.
As for new players, everybody gets excited about the new guys. It will be fun to see how this list of newcomers from the spring and new arrivals from the summer blend in and compete for opportunities on the field this season.
I would project Illingworth as the back-up quarterback this season despite being a true freshman. He is shown here in spring practice with quarterback coach Tim Rattay.
Robert Allen - Pokes Report publisher
16-Shane Illingworth, QB, 6-5, 226, Fr., Norco, Calf. - Was there in the spring for three practices
20-Dominic Richardson, RB, 6-0, 210, Fr., OKC (Bishop McGunness), Okla. - Cut loose by TCU, All-State back ends up with Cowboys this summer
11-Dee Anderson, WR, 6-6, 230, Grad., LSU - Arrived this summer and is big and athletic
80-Brennan Presley, WR, 5-8, 170, Fr., Bixby, Okla. - Electric player that figures to find opportunities at receiver and in returns
75-Eli Russ, OL, 6-5, 318, Ardmore (Plainview), Okla. - Rare frosh O-lineman that is mature and might be able to play as a freshman
93-Collin Clay, DT, 6-3, 296, So-Transfer, Arkansas - No word on eligibility but he played as a freshman at Arkansas
0-Christian Holmes, CB, 6-1, 180, Grad., Missouri - Has size, ability, and experience to really help, maybe start.
Fans should be excited about all the newcomers, but these are a fewthat I highlighted either because they could quickly become a factor for the Cowboys this season or their story is fresh and new like with running back Dominic Richardson, who signed with TCU, but the prep career near 4,000-yard rusher is a Cowboy.
