Oklahoma football: Weather moves Sooner spring game

With the specter of inclement weather hanging over the Oklahoma football annual spring game the university’s administration has decided to move the event from Saturday afternoon to Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.

Oklahoma football is planning most of the festivities that surround the game including a concert performance by Lee Brice, an opportunity to pose with Kyler Murray‘s Heisman Trophy, a punt-catching contest, an opportunity to call a play during the game and a chance to participate in Ceedee Lamb’s famous rock-paper-scissors end zone celebration.

Saturday temperatures in Norman are expected to be in the 30s with rain and a possibility of some winter weather, prompting the change from the university. Friday night forecasts call for temperatures in the 60s with little to no chance of precipitation.

“Naturally, our preference is to play on Saturday, but the weather was going to subject our fans to difficult conditions, and likely would have prevented many from attending,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione in a press release. “We know that decisions of this kind may inconvenience some, and we regret that very much. At the same time, it truly was the student-athletes and fans we had in mind when we made this call. We hope most of our great fans can still attend the game in what should be much better conditions.”

Oklahoma football head coach Lincoln Riley believes the move will provide conditions for better football and a better show for the fans. he said in the press release:

"“Saturday is going to be a tough day in terms of the weather so this helps our fans and also gives us better conditions to play the game. I sincerely hope our fans can still support this event as they have in the past. It’s a huge recruiting weekend for us and we want to demonstrate the passion of OU football. The change gives us a little bit of a different atmosphere under the lights so we’re going to embrace that and get excited about it.”"

Our take

The move is a blow to the Sooners’ recruiting efforts, as the spring game is quickly becoming one of the program’s biggest events of the year. Top secondary targets Kelee Ringo, Jacobe Covnginton and Lathan Ransom are all scheduled to visit among many other marquee names.

However, if anyone can adapt to make the most of this it’s Lincoln Riley. He’s become one of the fiercest recruiters in the country and as good as anyone at selling his brand. It will be interesting to see how he and his staff adapt and try to make the most of what should still be a huge recruiting opportunity.

Broadcast coverage of the game will be available on Fox Sports and Soonersports.tv.