Cowboys Slow Down Practice Pace and Watch as Big Ten and Pac-12 Dump Football

Amid all the uncertainty brewing in college football Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy felt he had no choice but to temper the Cowboys practice schedule, but not stop it.

STILLWATER -- Oklahoma State was on the practice field inside the dry turf in the Sherman Smith Training Center on Tuesday morning staying out of the passing rain showers and switching to a schedule that was more sensible amid all the questions in college football. The talk was still rumors and speculation during the Cowboys close to hour and a half on the field. However, by the time the team was in position meetings Tuesday afternoon the news was real and the Big Ten at around 2:30 p.m. and then the Pac-12 about an hour later cancelled all intercollegiate athletics for the fall including football.

Big Ten Statement on 2020-21 Fall Seasonhttps://t.co/BCiRSzeAPL

— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) August 11, 2020

Update on the 2020-21 Pac-12 season below.https://t.co/G6VxDO2VM2

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) August 11, 2020

In texts back and forth, Mike Gundy was completely on top of the conferences dropping sports and football. He also told me that his team would be back in practice on Wednesday, but would still delay putting on full pads. The Cowboys were originally scheduled to be in full pads for the first time on Monday but pushed it back. The Tuesday workout was a special teams practice format similar to the plan that was scheduled for Thursday. 

"We can't practice in full pads and more aggressively until we know for sure our schedule and when we are going to play a game," Gundy explained. "We're still going to get work done."

Again, the practice was only about an hour and a half. Much of the work involved kickoff returns, which seem to have a prospect to be more exciting with some of the return talent on hand including freshman Brennan Presley, who showed in high school at Bixby to have a real talent for returning kicks. There is other speed and experience there in Braydon Johnson, LD Brown, and Landon Wolf. 

The defense did a lot of mental work and all position groups got in skill drills as the practice continued. 

Stillwater seemed throughout the day like an Oasis, where football seems to be on the agenda for the Fall. The Big 12 athletic directors and Board of Directors met on Tuesday. Before the athletic directors meeting in a regular athletic department senior staff meeting, athletic director Mike Holder was said to be passionate in his thought that football needed to be played and would be played this fall at Oklahoma State.

The information that Pokes Report has been subject to is that the Big 12 is still planning to play and being patient about the advance toward the start of a season. There are concerns about Myocarditis, a condition that takes place damaging the heart following a bout with multiple viruses and that seems to be a condition that is a byproduct of the COVID-19. We do know that Oklahoma State has several players, mainly linemen that have been doing light work and waiting to pass their physicals to begin full practice. 

Now, Dr. Cameron Wolfe of Duke, who is the chairperson of the ACC Medical Advisory Group, has advised the ACC that they should be able to play a football season. This coming in the last 24 hours.

"We believe we can mitigate it down to a level that makes everyone safe," Wolfe told The Sports Business Daily. "Can we safely have two teams meet on the field? I would say yes. Will it be tough? Yes. Will it be expensive and hard and lots of work? For sure. But I do believe you can sufficiently mitigate the risk of bringing COVID onto the football field or into the training room at a level that's no different than living as a student on campus."

Interestingly enough, it is two other Duke doctors that are consulting the NFL and the Big 12 on the COVID-19 issues and whether they can stage competitive events. 

The NFL, NFL Players Association, and Big 12 have turned to Infection Control Education for Major Sports, or ICS,an independent organization run by two Duke University infectious-disease doctors, Deverick Anderson and Christopher Hostler. You would think that the opinions through the Duke medical family would be similar leading to the Big 12 being consulted on the possibility of playing. 

Another interesting aspect of all the news is the reaction of two Big Ten schools that we had been told by two different sources had reached out about the possibility of playing football in the Big 12 if the Big Ten ended fall sports. Those two schools, Nebraska and Ohio State, had interesting reactions to the news today. 

Nebraska’s response to today’s decision. #huskers pic.twitter.com/xsjOSQni1y

— Sam McKewon (@swmckewonOWH) August 11, 2020

Ohio State did not have an official release, but there were multiple reports out of Columbus, Ohio that along the lines of head football coach Ryan Day's comments to ESPN and other media on Monday that Ohio State was ready to play and would look for other options if the Big Ten cancelled their season.

I think all fans would be all for bringing Ohio State and Nebraska into the Big 12 fold for the football season. The television money ramifications could be huge and I believe the conferences, schools, and their medical staffs could pull this off.