Happy Monday, friends and fans!

The Oklahoma Sooners are scheduled to open Big 12 play at home this weekend against the Kansas State Wildcats, however, in the midst of a pandemic, no kick-off is guaranteed. Under conference-wide COVID-19 testing protocol, if a team does not meet the threshold of having enough players available come game day, the contest will either be postponed or canceled outright. On Monday, KSU’s Chris Klieman spoke on the current status of his team.

For now, it’s a positive that K-State’s team has enough players available to play against OU, but with how quick this virus can spread among any given group of people, the status of this game will continue to hang in the balance until both teams are on the field and lined up for the opening kickoff.

We’ve already seen games get canceled or postponed throughout the Big 12 and college football as a whole just a few weeks into the 2020 season. What’s keeping most players (or staff members) from being available isn’t necessarily because of positive coronavirus tests, rather it’s usually contact tracing ID’ing that affects their status. It’s a safety measure intended on mitigating the spread of COVID-19, and although it is effective when it comes to that, it has also affected multiple games less than a month into the season.

K-State’s Klieman also revealed that while his team has started to get players back that were previously isolated from their teammates and practice facilities, there are other players who are now having to be placed in quarantine due to a combination of positive tests and tracing protocols.

Both Oklahoma and Kansas State are set to conduct two more tests this Wednesday and Friday. If by the end of the week there are enough players available on each side, the Sooners and Wildcats will meet this Saturday on Owen Field at 11 a.m. CT. Until then, keep your fingers crossed, folks.

Now onto this week’s Monday edition of Hot Links! Cedarian Lamb eclipses the century mark, K1 is lighting the NFL on fire, ‘Primetime’ coaches college football and more!

OU Links

• On Monday, OU Athletics released another round of COVID-19 testing data, but did not distinguish players or staff by the sport they play or coach. Out of 583 student-athletes and 177 staff members tested from Sept. 13-19, eight people yielded positive results. Also, there are currently 20 active cases among student-athletes and three among staff members.

• Judging by this graphic shared by OU’s official Twitter account, it looks like the Sooners are going with the alternate jerseys this Saturday when (if) Kansas State comes to town. If I recall correctly, the last time Oklahoma sported the white helmets with the crimson tops was against Baylor in 2018. I don’t know if this also means I should expect another 66-point outing, but a fan can dream.

• Looking ahead to next week, Oklahoma is set to travel to Ames, Iowa and will either kick-off at 11 a.m. or 6:30 pm. CT. If it’s the former, the game will be broadcast on FOX. If it’s the latter, you can catch the action on ABC.

• Dallas Cowboys rookie WR CeeDee Lamb recorded the first 100-yard receiving game of his career on Sunday in an epic 40-39 comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons. Check out his highlights as he helped lead his team to victory.

• Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals are one of the NFL season’s biggest surprises after racing out to a scintillating 2-0 start. In fact, K1 is not only winning on the field, he’s doing it in ways no other QB has ever done before, statistically speaking. Is it just me, or do y’all also hear ‘M-V-P’ chants growing louder in the distance?

• In case you missed it, Stephen Brown broke down a list of the top 2021 recruiting targets still squarely on Oklahoma’s radar. Several high-profile prospects are still in play with the Sooners seemingly in a favorable position.
• Hey Sooner fans, the brilliant designers over at BreakingT recently released this hot-off-the-press, OU-themed ‘Quick-Strike Offense’ t-shirt just for you. Since Lincoln Riley began calling plays for Oklahoma five seasons ago, the offense in Norman has been among the most lethal attacks in FBS history. After last Saturday, it appears this year’s group has the potential to be even better than the rest. Now go ahead and check out this sweet tee for yourself right away!

Around the Sports World

• Anthony Davis channeled his inner ‘Mamba’ as he sunk the Denver Nuggets from beyond the arc at the buzzer in Game Two of the Western Conference Finals. The top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers now lead the series, 2-0.

• New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley reportedly suffered a torn ACL in Sunday’s 17-13 loss to the Chicago Bears and will now miss the remainder of the 2020 NFL season.
• In other injury news around the league, Carolina Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey is expected to miss several weeks after going down with an ankle injury in a 31-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• By defeating the Seattle Mariners, 7-4 on Sunday, the San Diego Padres have officially clinched the organization’s first postseason berth since 2006.
• On Monday, Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders aka ‘Primetime’ was officially named head coach of the Jackson State Tigers. This is the 53-year-old’s first collegiate head coaching gig of his career.

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