Unfortunately, Change is the Name of the Game with COVID-19

Everybody from players and coaches to officials, television networks, fans and everybody has to get their head around changes happening at a moments notice in college football.

STILLWATER -- Tuesday morning's football staff meeting was unlike any the coaches and staff at Oklahoma State had ever been a part of in their time in football, much less college football. The night before the University of Tulsa had sent out a release that the game with Oklahoma State had been pushed from Sept. 5 to Sept. 12. The immediate action taken in the staff meeting was to revise the schedule, practice, lifting, meetings, all of it. Now, remember football teams live on routine. Structure is the middle name of a football program and the best programs in the college sport tend to be the ones that stick to their plan the best. 

However, COVID-19 is the enemy of routines and schedules. The only schedule that COVID-19 abides by is a testing schedule. The problem with that is those test results can be the enemy of a football itinerary. Tulsa saw that in August when a large number of positive tests led to a nine-day shutdown of practice at the practice fields off Harvard Ave. In the end that shutdown combined with some other minor schedule glitzes.    

Head coach Mike Gundy told the staff that they would lighten up in practice starting with Tuesday's practice and would map out off days for later in the week. This team has been practicing in earnest since the start of August. There have been days off, but physically this team is ready to play. Mentally, they are over ready to play. 

"Whether we play today, tomorrow, next week, five months from now, I'm going to be ready," Chuba Hubbard said of the Tulsa game.

"It's a good sign, the guys are flying around," Gundy said during the last hour of a practice on Wednesday and right after cornerback Christian Holmes intercepted a pass off the scout team. 

Both the Tuesday and Wednesday practices have been cut shorter than normal and the team will get even lighter workloads on Thursday and Friday. 

Hubbard and other players admit that it can be hard. You do get it in your mind that the game will happen on Saturday and then within the game week that changes that impacts a player emotionally. Moving back a week is not nearly as emotional as moving back four months or more. Just ask the players and their parents in the Big 10 that have been protesting since the conference ditched fall football back on Aug. 12.

Maybe it's that fact that Oklahoma State has a season and the game is just pushed back a week that caused some players to just shrug it off.

"It didn't impact me at all," linebacker and edge rush specialist Calvin Bundage said after the Wednesday practice. "I'd have rather played (this Saturday)."

"It didn't really effect me and I just took it as an opportunity to work some more and gets better," cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse kind of echoed. "It is something you have to deal with and move on."  

Mark it down!📅#LetsRide | #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/vQctV8Jr0X

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) September 9, 2020

"It does set somethings back quite a bit. Hotel rooms is a big thing and we had to cancel all of our rooms (at The Atherton) on Friday and book them for Sept. 18," Director of Football Operations Mack Butler said. "Meals and you have to make sure all those people that 24 hours ago thought Sept. 19 was an off weekend and that they can work. We eat Friday night up here (West End Zone training table) and then just breakfast and pregame Saturday."

Fortunately, that is now one and the same as the Cowboys kick early with Tulsa.

The date is now Sept. 19 and the kickoff time is 11 a.m. ESPN will televise and the Cowboys with Chuba Hubbard, Tylan Wallace, Trace Ford, Kolby Harvell-Peel and many other players that are candidates for postseason awards will follow College GameDay and that is a great time for ratings and some great exposure. 

I still think the result will be worth the wait.