Oklahoma football: Grading the Sooners at mid-term of 2020 season
By Chip Rouse
COVID protective measures: A-
Lincoln Riley and Sooner athletic director Joe Castiglione delayed summer voluntary workouts for members of the football team a month longer than most other major programs in an effort to provide additional protection from COVID-19 exposure. It also enabled the staff to ensure that all necessary protocols and procedures were in place to protect the health and safety of the players and support staff when the players returned to campus.
As a result, OU did have some players test positive on their initial return to campus, but the program went for over a month with no players testing positive for the virus.
When the Big 12 schedule was revised for a 10-game schedule, Riley paused the Sooner preseason practice schedule and allowed the players to return home if they desired.
The Sooners were originally schedule to open the season on Aug. 25, but that game was pushed back to Sept. 12. Most of the OU players remained on campus during the brief break, but the team did experience a minor outbreak of positive COVID tests among the returning players. As a result, several players missed the season-opener against Missouri State.
Since the beginning of October, the positivity rate for the weekly student-athlete tests at OU (including all fall athletes) has been one percent or less.