Oklahoma Adds Extra Open Week Prior to Tennessee Game

Oklahoma is going to have an extra week to prepare for their 2nd match-up of the year against Tennessee, according to a report from Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports.

Oklahoma is going to have an extra week to prepare for their 2nd match-up of the year against Tennessee, according to a report from Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports. The Sooners created the extra bye week by moving their season-opener against Missouri State up a week from September 5th to August 29th. The game will still be played in Norman, and the program claims that the move was made out of an abundance of caution due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

#OU’s season opener against Missouri State in Norman has moved to Saturday, Aug. 29, one week earlier than originally scheduled. pic.twitter.com/IVxQLGP20O

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) July 25, 2020

“If the season is indeed permitted to start as scheduled, the benefit of extra time between games will help our teams manage any variety of possible circumstances that may occur,” said Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione in a recent statement. “Our original schedule had an open date between our 2nd and 3rd games, so now we will have a span of five weeks to play 3 games.”

“It provides us (with) a more gradual approach to manage the conditions of these unprecedented times,” continued Castiglione. “We’re thankful to Missouri State for their cooperation during this process and to the NCAA for allowing both teams to start the season a week earlier.”

The University of Oklahoma first requested their season-opener to be moved back a week earlier in the month, according to a report by Barry Trammel of the Oklahoman. The Sooners believed back then that the extra time could be extremely valuable for testing players and identifying those who carried the coronavirus, so they isolate them before they spread the virus to other players from different institutions.

Despite the program’s logical reasoning for the change, there is no doubt that it will make the Vols’ dream of upsetting Oklahoma ever tougher than it was before — as Jeremy Pruitt’s squad will now be facing a well rested and prepared Sooners team. The Vols date with Oklahoma is currently scheduled to start on September 12th, with a time not yet being released; however, in recent weeks it has become increasingly unlikely that the game will even be played.

With the Big Ten and the PAC-12 choosing to cancel all non-conference games this month, the SEC and Big-12 are under more pressure than ever to make modifications to their season. The SEC is expected to make a decision on the fate of the season by the end of July, meanwhile, teams have nothing to do but simply prepare for the season — despite not knowing what kind it will be.