Oklahoma State Football Sitting at Zero Positive COVID-19 Cases

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy announced to the media on Monday the football team is currently sitting at zero positive COVID-19 cases entering the game week against Tulsa.

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy shared some great news with the media on Monday morning. Heading into the start of the game week against Tulsa, the Cowboy football team has zero positive COVID-19 cases.

“We’re sitting here at zero,” said coach Gundy. “I mean [Dr. Val Gene Iven] has been unbelievable. I mean the guy should write a book on how to handle the virus.”

The worry going into the season was how well the team could handle positive cases and how to keep players safe once students arrived back on campus. Despite Stillwater being a hot spot for positive cases over the past few weeks, Cowboy football has done as good as anyone in the country.

"Our medical group is on the cutting edge with what they did and it just so happened that Dr. [Val Gene] Iven's plan was essentially flawless from the fact that we brought them in as early as possible," said coach Gundy. "We gained tons of information and learned throughout the process. We’re sitting here at zero."

The Cowboys still have two more required COVID-19 tests mandated by the Big 12 to take later this week: Wednesday and on Friday, the day before the season opener against Tulsa.

“We’re testing three times a week,” Gundy said. “We still have to test again Wednesday and Friday. You ask me where we’re at now, I gave you those numbers. Can they change, sure? Will they change throughout the season? I’m sure they will.”

Oklahoma State’s season opener against Tulsa on Sept. 12 was postponed to Sept. 19 due to COVID-19 precautions. Tulsa football had a rash of positive cases throughout fall camp, which caused the coaching staff to cancel a majority of the practices. Headed into last week, the Golden Hurricane had practiced just a handful of times since the beginning of August, certainly a worst-case scenario for Tulsa.

Both TCU and Baylor had to postpone their season openers due to positive COVID-19 cases. Baylor’s game against Louisiana Tech had been postponed due to positive cases and contact tracing in the La Tech program.

As for TCU, its game against SMU had to be put off due to a rash of positive cases in the TCU program.

Had Oklahoma State known about Tulsa wanting to postpone the season opener last week, it’s possible the Cowboys could’ve scheduled a game against SMU for Sept. 12.

The Oklahoma State athletic department as a whole has done a great job since bringing the athletes back on campus the first part of June. According to the athletic department’s COVID-19 update release last Monday, since June 1, when football started to arrive back in groups, the athletic department has had 101 positive cases in all sports. As of last week, the football team had just seven positive cases.

Below is updated COVID-19 testing data from the Oklahoma State Athletic Department through September 11. Testing began June 1.

Total Active Cases: 11
Football Active Cases: 0
Soccer Active Cases: 4
Cross Country Active Cases: 0
All Other Sports Active Cases: 7
Cumulative Cases to Date (all sports since June 1): 112