Oklahoma football: New rules in place as OU prepares for season opener
By Chip Rouse
The 2020 Oklahoma football season is scheduled to kick off two weeks from Saturday.
Things are going to be much different this season amid noticeable but necessary changes prompted by the continued threat of COVID-19 exposure.
The entire game-day experience will represent a dramatic change from what Sooner fans are normally accustomed to, but, of course, there is nothing normal about the precarious world of COVID-19 we have been living in for the past nearly six months.
To begin with, Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium will only be about 25 percent of capacity when the Sooners host the Missouri State Bears, out of the Missouri Valley Conference, on Sept. 12. That amounts to approximately 21,000 fans, far below the 129 consecutive home sellouts at OU games since the beginning of the Bob Stoops era in 1999.
Athletic department officials announced this week that tailgating will not be permitted on campus and masks will be required on campus on game days, both indoors and outdoors.
The tailgate ban includes the Oklahoma Alumni Association Boomer Bash, the Sooner Club Tailgate, Varsity O Tailgate and the Walk of Champions. In addition, all homecoming festivities have been cancelled this season.
“A typical game day in Norman draws over 100,000 people to campus,” said Eric Conrad, OU vice president for university operations, in a news release issued by the university.
“While we realize these decisions will be disappointing to many, it is imperative that the university does its part to slow the spread of the virus on campus and in our community so we can protect each other.”
The release went on to clarify that masking must be fabric or of the disposable surgical style. “Bandanas, scarves, gaiters, buffs and the like are not acceptable.”
As reported previously, the annual Red River Showdown between OU and Texas this year will be played at an empty Texas State Fairgrounds. Texas State Fair officials cancelled the fair for this year. There is no definitive word yet on how many, if any, fans will be allowed to attend the game at the Cotton Bowl. but it will clearly be dramatically less than the near 100,000 that traditionally pack their way into the Cotton Bowl every October for this traditional rivalry game.