Why Oklahoma State is Going Through ‘Mock Gameday’ a Week Before Tulsa

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are back at work on Saturday but there’s much more to it than practice.

Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

For the past three weeks the Oklahoma State Cowboys have been practicing everything. On Saturday they'll practice gameday.

It sounds simple. Players show up, coaches show up and they play a game. New Cowboys head coach Eric Morris doesn't see it that week. He sees it far differently. If preparation is everything, then he believes his Cowboys must prepare for their opener by … practicing how to prepare to play their opener.

That’s what the Cowboys players and coaches are spending the day doing — practicing gameday, everything from arrivals at the stadium to stretch work and game situations. Morris explained why earlier this week.

Why Cowboys are Having Mock Gameday

Oklahoma State head football coach Eric Morris. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Cowboys have practiced countless game situations the last three weeks, and that includes their two scrimmages. But this will be a scripted start-to-finish gameday walkthrough.

“We can practice all of our game day operations, getting special teams out, the callouts, and all that takes time and organization,” Morris said. “So just to get everybody on the same page throughout this week, and that way we can hit it with gas next week.”

Many coaches and programs do something like this during fall camp. The Cowboys are doing it the week before their opener with Tulsa intentionally. Oklahoma State will play every game on Saturday this season, meaning they will always have the same cadence between games. Morris can emulate that week-to-week cadence between games by doing his mock on Saturday.

Players usually arrive three hours before a game. There is preparation in the locker room and training room that fans don't see. Well before fans get into the stadium players go through reps without pads.

Once the pads are on, special teamers typically hit the field, then skill player groups and hten offensive and defensive linemen. There's stretch work with all players involved followed by position and 11-on-11 drills. It all takes time and coordination, which is why Morris wants to practice everything on Saturday.

Morris knows cramping is an issue on gameday, saying that there hasn’t been an opener in which he hasn’t deal with it in players. So he’s building everything into the session.

“So we like to put them through the waiting period of what's going on [pre-game],” he said. “Truly come out as a team, do all of our stretch, our pregame routine, and then we put everybody on the sideline.”

The coaches are not immune, either. Morris wants them to go through their paces, too. Coaches and players have access to tablets during games due to the Big 12's partnership with Microsoft. Morris wants his coaches to remind themselves to process information quickly and be able to convey that to players during game situations.

Yes, he even wants his coaches to get mental reps.

“Having our coaches actually sit down and go over how they're going to sit down, how they're going to present the material to our players [is important],” Morris said.

It's meticulous preparation but Morris believes it will come in handy when the Cowboys begin their season next Saturday against Tulsa. After all, he's taking over a program that has won four games in the last two years. Morris doesn't want to leave anything to chance.