HOT TAKE: Why Oklahoma State is kicking off its opener at 1 p.m. In August. By choice!
And insanity isn't the answer.
STILLWATER — Justin Kirkland had a visceral reaction when he first heard that Oklahoma State's season opener would kick off at 1 p.m.
"I was jumping for joy," he said.
Then, he raised an eyebrow.
"No!" he said with a laugh.
His jump-for-joy joke is understandable. The nose tackle is the biggest of the Cowboys' big guys, weighing in at 345 pounds, and playing a middle-of-the-afternoon game in Oklahoma's late-August heat is no easy task.
Kirkland recently lost 18 pounds during a practice.
"I've been here for a year now, so I'm kind of used to the humidity," the Utah native said. "But being a big guy, humidity just sucks."
Into our hot guy summer will soon step the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. They are coming to Stillwater next Saturday for that aforementioned 1 p.m. opener, and while the two-time defending FCS national champions appear to be a worthy adversary for OSU, the heat becomes another opponent in this matchup.
The South Dakota State campus is in Brookings, and the highest high there over the past two weeks has been 84 degrees.
And there've been way more days with highs in the 70s than the 80s.
That sounds heavenly for us long-suffering Oklahomans, but it doesn't do much for a football team trying to prepare itself not only for the Cowboys but also for Oklahoma's heat.
No wonder Mike Gundy scheduled this game for 1 p.m.
Oh, the Cowboy coach insists this kick time wasn't his doing.
"You'd have to ask somebody else," he said when I asked why the opener was kicking off at 1 p.m.
"The contracts with these (nonconference) games were mainly done by other people, not me. I just agree to certain ones of them, but I don't really have a lot to do with all that."
Poppycock.
South Dakota State is the one OSU game that wasn't picked up by the Big 12's broadcast partners. That means the good folks in Stillwater got to set the kick time, and with the game slated for the last day of August, evening would've been the most likely choice.
Most sane, too.
The truth is, most schools run from middle-of-the-day games early in the season. OU, for example, was so concerned it would get assigned an 11 a.m. game for its opener that it preemptively moved the game to Friday so it could be in the evening.
OSU did the opposite. It didn't just lean into the hottest part of the day; it slathered itself in baby oil and laid down on the asphalt by scheduling a 1 p.m. game.
Why?
Insanity might seem the easy answer, but it's a bit more nuanced than that.
As previously mentioned, South Dakota State has won back-to-back national titles. It hasn't lost a game since Sept. 3, 2022.
"Teams that haven’t lost a game in a long time are difficult to play because they don’t know how to lose," Gundy said. "All they’ve ever done is win. So you have to take the game away from them. They’re not gonna give you the game."
And Gundy says he has been preaching that message to his team for months.
"I started telling them in January, then I told ‘em again in spring and I told ‘em again before we started practicing," he said. "They’re very aware of who this team is, and they’re very aware of the success they’ve had.
"This team can play competitively in the Power Four conferences."
The last time South Dakota State played an FBS opponent, it lost — but barely. Iowa won 7-3.
South Dakota State is physical and tough, disciplined and well-coached. By all metrics, it has an impressive track record and is probably better than many FBS teams. Probably better than lots of Group of Five teams. Definitely better than the teams below the Group of Five.
But the fact remains: South Dakota State is an FCS team, and if OSU loses this game, the Cowboys would likely have to win the Big 12 title to have any chance of making the College Football Playoff.
"It's a dangerous challenge for us," Gundy said.
Even though he is doing everything he can to prepare his team to overcome that challenge, he decided to do one more thing to try and help swing the scales in the Cowboys’ favor: play the game in the hottest part of the day.
Roast the Jackrabbits?
Gundy might settle for melting them a bit, but clearly, he hopes the heat is a factor for South Dakota State. He has worked to mitigate the impact on his own team by practicing outside as much as possible. No indoor shade. No hiding from the heat.
Gundy tried to downplay the prep.
"I don't know if anybody really ever really gets used to it," he said.
He tried to downplay the fact that OSU is kicking off at 1 p.m., too.
"There'll be afternoon games all across the country," he said. "That's part of it during this time of year."
True, but most teams playing in the middle of the day are doing so because TV execs deemed it necessary.
OSU is doing it by choice.
More succinctly, Mike Gundy is doing it by choice.
He wants his team to have every advantage against South Dakota State even if it means playing when it could be a bazillion degrees on the Boone Pickens Stadium turf.
It's not a sign of insanity but rather respect for the Jackrabbits.
What about the health and safety of the players?
What about the h