Oct. 6-12, 2020

W E E K LY E D I T I O N | O C T O B E R 6 -12 , 2 0 2 0 | O U D A I LY. C O M

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Iowa State loss marks new low for Sooners

OU’s independent student voice since before the 1918 pandemic

OU announces student death Circumstances in student’s death remain unknown

In the statement to media, OU officials wrote they had learned of the student’s death and offered condolences for the “tragic loss.”

BLAKE DOUGLAS “The university is deeply sad@Blake_Doug918 dened to learn of the death of a member of the OU community.

A n O U s t u d e n t h a s d i e d , We mourn this tragic loss as we the university announced in a join together in support of those who need it most,” the statement Sunday statement.

read. “The university asks the public to respect the family’s privacy at this time. University counseling services are available to provide support for OU community members.”

More information will be provided as it becomes available.

Blake Douglas

Editor’s note: The Daily is not at this time identifying the student who died out of respect for the family as they have not publicly commented on their loss or circumstances surrounding it.

bdoug99@ou.edu

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MEGAN FOISY/THE DAILY

‘IF YOU FOLLOW THE

CLASSROOM PROTOCOLS,

YOU’LL NEVER BE PART OF CONTACT TRACING’ University virus precautions not infallible in preventing COVID-19 spread @Blake_Doug918

The CDC updated its COVID-19 guidance Monday to say the virus can “sometimes” be spread through the air to people more than six feet apart. OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler said these changes will not affect OU’s university guidelines.

According to the new CDC guidelines, infections can potentially occur from farther than six feet away during specific activities or in environments with poor air flow.

“There is evidence that under certain conditions, people with COVID-19 seem to have infected others who were more than six feet away,” the CDC guidelines read.

“These transmissions occurred within enclosed spaces that had inadequate ventilation. Sometimes the infected person was breathing heavily, for example while singing or exercising.”

Bratzler said the new guidelines will not change OU’s COVID-19 protocols, however.

“No, it will not,” Bratzler said, noting the decision is based on the fact that airborne transmission is most often reported in closed areas with poor ventilation and lack of proper masking.

“The university has already upgraded all of the HVAC systems on campus with high-efficiency filters and enhanced air exchange with outdoor air,” Bratzler said in an email to The Daily.

At the OU Board of Regents’ Oct. 2 meeting, OU President Joseph Harroz said there had been no cases COVID-19 being transmitted in a classroom. In a later interview, Bratzler said even if a student were in a classroom with a positive classmate, they may not be contacted for contact tracing.

In an Oct. 5 interview with The OU Daily, Bratzler said he was not aware of any cases of classroom transmission of COVID-19 at OU. However, he also said that classrooms at

OU are intended to be set up in such a way — with six feet between desks and everyone in the room wearing a mask — that students in the room would not be considered a close contact of any student who could potentially be positive by the CDC’s definition.

“Because we set up the classrooms with six feet of physical distancing and everybody’s required to be wearing a mask, those

“

If you follow the classroom protocols, you’ll never be a part of contact tracing, because you’re spread far enough apart and wearing a mask … if you’re more than six feet apart, the health department won’t even contact you for contact tracing. I mean, they may be contacted, but they won’t be considered a direct contact.

-Dr. Dale Bratzler, OU chief COVID officer

“

BLAKE DOUGLAS

two interventions in general make it so that you don’t even meet the criteria to be a direct contact,” Bratzler said. “But we just simply haven’t seen people report that as a likely source of infection. And as I tell the doctors on this campus, somewhere between 40 to 45 percent of people who get COVID-19

never have a single symptom. Rather, they look perfectly normal, but could be infectious, and that’s why we insisted on a masking policy.”

Previously, some OU students have reported that their classrooms are unable to accommodate the number of students in the class and leave six feet of space between them.

Bratzler went on to say that due to OU’s classroom setup and protocols, students in a class with a classmate who may later test positive could potentially not be contacted by the health department for contact tracing.

“If you follow the classroom protocols, you’ll never be a part of contact tracing, because you’re spread far enough apart and wearing a mask … if you’re more than six feet apart, the health department won’t even contact you for contact tracing,” Bratzler said. “I mean, they may be contacted, but they won’t be considered a direct contact.”

In the email, Bratzler emphasized most cases of transmission of COVID-19 continue to occur in places where “people (without masks) are close together.”

The university has previously offered unclear statements regarding COVID-19 protocols — in a Sept. 14 email to The Daily, an OU spokesperson said at the time the university “does not track student hospitalization records.” However, during the State of the University on Sept. 16, Harroz said there had been no hospitalizations due to COVID19 at OU. When asked following the statement whether the university was tracking hospitalizations, an OU spokesperson said the university “isn’t officially tracking hospitalizations” and that Harroz was referencing the fact that “he is unaware of any student hospitalizations as a result of the virus.”

Blake Douglas

bdoug99@ou.edu

6

2

NEWS

• Oct. 6-12, 2020

Worker group makes demands OU professors seek transparency, stricter enforcement ARI FIFE @arriifife

TREY YOUNG/THE DAILY

Evans Hall on June 30. The OU chapter of the American Association of University Professors demanded action before the Oct. 3 Board of Regents meeting.

someone with COVID-19, or symptoms of it, present in the workplace at the current time.’”

In an Aug. 16 report, the White House Coronavirus Ta s k F o r c e c l a s s i f i e d Oklahoma as a “red zone,” meaning the state had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents in the week before the report, the declaration read. That report also noted Cleveland County had the third-highest number of new cases in the state, and the most recent task force report indicated “worsening conditions.”

The declaration lists several instances in which the university has failed to act “in the interest of public safety, employee well-being, shared governance, and academic freedom,” according to the press release.

“The University of Oklahoma administration has endangered the lives of students, faculty, staff, members of the Norman community and their families by reopening with primarily in-person operations, including with uncertain shifting policies while Oklahoma was designated a pandemic red zone,” OU-AAUP members said in the declaration.

The de claration read OU has endorsed the 1940 Statement of Principles o n A c a d e m i c F re e d o m a n d Te n u r e w i t h 1 9 7 0 Interpretative Comments of the American Association of University Professors, which maintains certain academic decisions, like whether to hold class in-person or online and changing the academic calendar, fall in the faculty’s “area of primary responsibility.”

According to the declaration, though, “the COVID-19 pandemic has become the occasion for the OU administration to circumvent these widely-accepted principles of academic governance

by explicitly barring faculty from exercising their primary responsibility of making decisions about whether to cancel classes, hold them online, alter the academic calendar, replace letter grades with pass-fail or incomplete designations or cancel final exams and papers.”

According to the declaration, OU administrators also ignored the Faculty Senate’s Healthcare Benefits Equity Resolution opposing changes to employee benefits that would modify the current six-tier structure to a three-tier structure by 2021, and ultimately a one-tier structure in 2022.

“

online, instead of engaging in “progressive reductions in compensation” for employees making at least $100,000 and using OU athletics cost savings to counteract possible budget shortfalls.

The OU Athletics department announced in July the university will implement about $13.7 million of budget cuts in operating expenses for the 2020-2021 fiscal year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although most recently, Harroz said he doesn’t anticipate university-wide furloughs or layoffs, Givel said he thinks the possibility remains, as furloughs were

Time’s up. This is a serious problem. We can’t wait two months to get a response.

We need a response now.

-Michael Givel, professor of political science and OU-AAUP president

The resolution reads, “The OU-NC Faculty Senate strongly objects, based on equity concerns, to the proposed changes to faculty and staff benefits that ultimately would result in a one-tier system by 2022. The abandonment of the six-tier system adversely impacts those with the lowest salary at OU. We ask the administration to reconsider these changes and seek wider input from the OU community.”

The declaration referenced a Sept. 24 email from Harroz, in which he wrote the changes would “have a negative impact on our lowest-paid employees.”

According to the declaration, administrators have also publicly threatened to furlough OU employees if the university moves fully

“

The OU chapter of the American Association of University Professors released demands calling for more transparency in campus COVID-19 data and stricter enforcement of social distancing and masking Thursday morning.

According to a chapter press release, the declaration of demands is addressed to OU President Joseph Harroz, Interim Provost and Senior Vice President Jill Irvine and the Board of Regents members. The release coincided with the regents’ scheduled meetings Thursday and Friday.

The chapter asked for a response from administrators

by Oct. 6, according to the release.

Political science professor and OU-AAUP president Michael Givel said in an interview with The Daily the chapter is intentionally giving administrators a short period of time to respond.

“Time’s up,” Givel said.

“This is a serious problem.

We can’t wait two months to get a response. We need to get a response now. In a shared governance situation of which the University of Oklahoma says it’s in, we would expect a rational, thoughtful and civil response within the next week.”

According to the declaration, OU-AAUP’s demands include updating the OU COVID-19 dashboard case reporting system to provide “more useful” data on cases and “actually and vigorously” enforcing Safe and Resilient policies and local city ordinances related to mask use and social distancing, including at athletic events.

The group also demands the university provide “clear trigger criteria” for when OU will primarily and immediately move online; move all operations — including spring 2021 courses — online by default and let professors and students opt into in-person classes and work; and reconsider proposed changes to the university’s six-tier healthcare structure and seeking “broader input” from community members before making changes.

Givel said the demands were a group effort by the chapter, and he doesn’t believe the university has its employees’ best interest in mind.

“We’re asking very nicely that they address this so that that happens — that their best interests and our best interests are all congruent,” Givel said.

According to the declaration, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “has stated that the coronavirus pandemic constitutes a direct threat and finds ‘that a significant risk of substantial harm would be posed by having

predicted at various points over the summer.

“There is no certainty or legality that this won’t happen,” Givel said.

The declaration reads the university has required employees to request accommodations to work remotely instead of granting them by default, and has “therefore disadvantaged those most vulnerable employees who did not request reasonable remote working accommodations out of fear of losing their jobs.”

Givel also said he thinks masking and social distancing should be more heavily policed by university administration.

“In terms of consequences (for violations), really, we’re not aware that this has happened, or if it has, it’s been

very limited,” Givel said.

“There need to be consequences to actions. If we’re going to violate a law, and nobody’s going to do anything about it, then you have a problem.”

According to the declaration, many OU professors find the OU COVID-19 data reporting system underreports university cases.

Givel said he thinks the dashboard should include reported cases from students, staff and faculty, as some cases in community members might be missed

by Goddard Health Center otherwise if the patient reports an address outside Cleveland County to health officials. He also said while some COVID-19 patients are hospitalized, it’s difficult to reflect less severe cases accurately.

Additionally, OU Director of Media Relations Kesha Keith said in a Sep. 14 statement to The Daily that the university isn’t currently tracking hospitalizations in the OU community.

“This is not just an OU problem, frankly, although OU could do a lot about it in terms of more accurate statistical collection,” Givel said. “But this is a national problem.”

OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler said in a Sept. 30 interview that even if a community member tests positive off campus, they must provide their information to the laboratory, and will also be contacted by a contact tracer. Once the contact tracer finds out the community member is from OU, their case will be referred to Cleveland County, and that data will be reflected in Norman zip code data.

“We knew we would miss some, depending on all the students to submit their forms,” Bratzler said. “But we were pretty confident that contact tracers would get

those cases assigned to the right location because that’s what they’re supposed to do by law. And so we felt pretty comfortable that we would catch it.”

According to the declaration, administrators have misrepresented the HIPAA privacy rule to “attempt to silence students, faculty and staff about important health information that poses a direct threat to their well-being,” while in fact, HIPAA doesn’t protect general student records that don’t include individual names.

According to the declaration, OU has also misrepresented the Centers for Disease Control definition for “close contact” by “excluding the classroom setting from contact tracing protocols.”

Bratzler said in a Sept.

15 S GA Undergraduate Congress meeting that no student has been quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure in a class.

Givel said reported cases on OU’s dashboard are greatly influenced by the self-reporting of cases by professors. He also said there have been reports of students telling professors they’re self-quarantining, but those haven’t been reported to the OU system, so contact tracing hasn’t occurred.

“Contrary to what we have continually been hearing and by any stretch of the imagination, all is not safe and resilient at OU,” Givel said in the OU-AAUP press release. “We call on OU to publicly and immediately change course by promptly adopting positive and robust corrective actions. Time is of the essence.”

Ari Fife

ariani.s.fife-1@ou.edu

New county, city cases remain consistent

NEWS

Oct. 6-12, 2020 •

3

Students dismayed by debate OU community weighs in after virtual watch party ALEXIA ASTON @alexiaaston

Some OU community members described the Sept. 29 presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden as a “hectic” affair.

OK Votes held a “non-partisan” virtual watch party m o d e ra t e d by Mi c h a e l Crespin, director and curator of the Carl Albert Center and OU political science professor. The event featured commentary by Keith Gaddie, OU political science professor, executive faculty fellow and senior fellow of Headington College, as well as Jennifer Kerns, who conducted research for one of the 2016 presidential debates and is the current radio show host for “All American Radio with Jennifer Kerns.”

In an interview with The Daily, Crespin said the event hosted about 140 viewers, who discussed the debate in Zoom’s chat feature and participated in polls throughout the watch party.

“It was unique,” Crespin said. “I don’t think we’ve seen any debates like that.

I think the candidates constantly talked over each other, they interrupted each other, they moved off the topics, I think they were calling each other names at times. I’d say, I don’t think it was presidential.”

In an interview with The Daily, OU College Democrats president Anna Hayes agreed with Crespin, saying she thought the

OU DAILY FILE PHOTOS

From left to right: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and President Donald Trump speak at podiums.

moderator, Chris Wallace, had a hard time moderating the event.

“Obviously, there was just a lot of shouting.” Hayes said. “To be quite frank, the moderator didn’t really moderate very much.”

The Chair of OU College Republicans Joseph Howard said he shared similar beliefs in regard to the handling and performance of the candidates.

“It was a hectic debate, it was a crazy debate,” Howard said in an interview with The Daily. “I would say the country was not very well served by the debate.”

In an attempt to minimize the amount of disruption and rule-breaking for remaining debates, the Commission on Presidential Debates is looking at controlling the two candidates’ microphones according to “an informed source” at CBS News.

“The Commission is

grateful to Chris Wallace for the professionalism and skill he brought to last night’s debate and intends to ensure that additional tools to maintain order are in place for the remaining debates,” the CPD wrote in a statement.

In a statement made by Biden, he said he was open to changes for the next debate.

“I just hope there’s a way in which the debate commission can control the ability of us to answer the question without interruption. I’m not going to speculate on what happens in the second or third debate,” Biden said.

Ho w e v e r, T r u m p o p posed these changes and said he was “satisfied” with the debate setup.

According to a statement

by White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Trump “wants to debate, he plans on being at the

debate, but he wants the rules to be fair and wants a fair exchange and doesn’t want rules that cover for a certain candidate’s inability to perform well.”

Both Hayes and Howard said there were very “important” takeaways and major points from the candidates representing their respective parties as well as the opposition.

“I think the most important (takeaways), two (are) that Trump refused to denounce white supremacy, and he refused to tell white supremacists that the y needed to stand down,” Hayes said. “The other significant takeaway, I think, is that Trump refused to commit to a democratic transition in the event that he loses the election.”

Howard said Trump was especially disruptive during the debate. “(Trump) was very aggressive, very belligerent,

to the point of almost being the caricature of himself,” Howard said. “Everybody looks at President Trump as saying, ‘He’s a fighter, he’s a disrupter.’ Well, it’s like he took that and (multiplied) it by 100 at the debate.”

Hayes said she had a more positive perspective regarding Biden’s debate performance, specifically his efforts to convey his overall message.

“Something else that I really personally appreciated, is even when the yelling was kind of getting out of control,” Hayes said, “Biden took the time to look at the camera and talk to the audience and really try to reinforce his message, try to speak clearly, be clear about his policies ... despite the craziness that was happening on stage.”

Howard said he was more critical of the actual content of Biden’s message rather than the manner in which

he conveyed it.

“Vice President Biden offered no clear vision for the country; no clear policies,” Howard said. “He waffled back and forth on certain things.”

Hayes said it’s important to do research due to the “incredible amount of false information shared” within the debate.

“Regardless of what your partisan leaning is, regardless of who you’re planning to vote for, I think this made it overwhelmingly clear that, as voters and as members of the American population, we need to do our own research and fact-checking,” Hayes said. “We simply are not going to be able to get correct information — which informs our vote choice — unless we do the research independently.”

Alexia Aston

alexiaaston@ou.edu

Regents change conflict-ofinterest rule, 6-tier health plan OU approves wide array of changes in October meeting JANA HAYES @jana_allen21

IMAGE PROVIDED BY OU MEDICINE

The OU Board of Regents unanimously approved the shift from a six-tier to three-tier health insurance system for the Norman campus in 2021 and made changes to its conflict of interest bylaws Friday afternoon.

According to OU President Joseph Harroz, this change will save $2.8 million and reduce the projected 2021 cost increase from an 11.1 percent increase to a 6.3 percent increase. While Harroz said the Norman campus’s faculty and staff senate executives are on board with the changes as passed after both senates passed resolutions opposing the changes in September.

Harroz said the university will create a “pool of money” to ensure those low-income employees are not impacted during the first year, as well as reviewing salaries to bring them up to competitive rates before discussing moving to a one-tier system in 2022.

The move to a three-tier system is to line up with market averages, Harroz said.

“This is an effort to achieve that balance of what is the lowest reasonable cost for those carrying the lion’s share of the burden (of providing university income) — which is our students — while achieving excellence, which means market alignment on (health insurance),” Harroz said. “The conversation has been honestly

Dr. Dale Bratzler wears a “Masking is a Must” button in his July 10 COVID-19 update.

OK hospitals face capacity issues BLAKE DOUGLAS/THE DAILY

Members of the OU Board of Regents and OU President Joseph Harroz at the Oct. 2 Board of Regents meeting.

impacted by the faculty senate (executives) and by the staff senate (executives). … I believe this is a positive step forward.”

The three tiers will consist of those earning $ 4 1 , 9 9 9 . 9 9 a n d b e l ow , $42,000 to $64,999.99, and $65,000 and above.

The board also approved several changes to its bylaws for the first time since 2017, including changes to its business conflict-of-interest policy.

With this change, members of the board or immediate family members — or businesses of board members or immediate family members — can now “enter into a contract with or sell, offer to sell or cause to be sold, rent or lease, goods, ser vices, buildings or property” to all OU campuses, Rogers State University and Cameron University with approval of five “non-conflicted” board members, according to the agenda.

After the meeting, Harroz said the university plans to release a decision

O c t. 5 o r O c t. 6 o n t h e plans for Thanksgiving break. Many universities have already announced a plan to return to online classes after Thanksgiving break to avoid virus spread when students return, and the OU College of Law has already made plans for a fully-virtual finals week after the break.

Harroz also confirmed t h e re a re n o p l a n s f o r campus-wide furloughs or any departmental layoffs that he knows of. With the dorms at 86 percent capacity and the campus still open, the university has avoided the loss of millions and certain furloughs, he said.

Harroz said the university’s non-athletic revenue is meeting approximate projections, though some departments may see funding reductions of roughly two percent.

With the spring semester coming soon, Harroz said he hopes to provide more flexibility for both students and instructors as far as preference for in-person

or online classes.

Other agenda items included the approval of a special pharmac y ag re e m e nt b e t w e e n the OU Health Sciences Center, OU Medicine, Inc. and Cornerstone Health S o l u t i o n s, a s w e l l a s a transitional clinical and financial integration agreement for the Stephenson Cancer Center between the OU Health Sciences Center and OU Medicine, Inc., effective Oct. 1 through June 30.

Ha r roz a l s o re q u e s ted to delete from the agenda the appointment of John Antonio, interim dean of the Gallogly College of Engineering, as the Senior Associate Vice President for Research and Partnerships. Harroz said this will be “picked up at a later time” due to budget concerns, as he said he hopes to place two people in that position but wants to make sure it is feasible for the university.

Jana Hayes

jana.r.allen-1@ou.edu

Bratzler warns flu season may ‘overwhelm’ ICUs JONATHAN KYNCL @jdkyn

O U ’s C h i e f C O V I D Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler said the Stillwater Medical Center and some hospitals in the Oklahoma City area are now facing ICU capacity challenges due to COVID-19, according to a Sept. 29 article from KFOR. Bratzler said in the article ICU bed capacity in several hospitals has led to patient transfers to larger facilities.

“This past week, we saw a real uptick in the number of people in the hospital, particularly occupying ICU beds, and that’s been part of the big challenge,” Bratzler said in the article.

“So we’ve had a substantial number of patients in the hospital, particularly using the ICU beds. Right now in Oklahoma, there are more than 200 people with COVID-19 in an ICU bed.”

In a Sept. 11 interview with The Daily, Bratzler warned that as flu season approaches, the combination of COVID-19 cases and rising flu cases could lead to area hospitals being

“overwhelmed.”

“I don’t want anyone to get flu and (COVID-19), and we know that co-infection is possible,” Bratzler said. “And then secondly, we’re approaching flu season, and the symptoms look a lot alike. We could completely overwhelm Goddard, hospitals, ERs and everyone else if we have a whole bunch of people coming in with influenza.”

On Sept. 28, Norman Public Schools began its phased plan to return students to in-person instruction, starting with elementary schools. Bratzler told KFOR one of the reasons for the uptick in cases is likely the reopening of schools. “ There’s no question that reopening the schools has increased the number of cases in Oklahoma,” Bratzler said. “Those are often (in) areas that do not have mask policies and other things that might help protect some people. So for schools that are open, at the very least, I strongly encourage that they require masks in the schools to reduce the transmission of the virus.”

Jonathan Kyncl jkyncl@ou.edu

4

NEWS

• Oct. 6-12, 2020

1 student kept abroad fall ’20

Travel restrictions impact student education plans JONATHAN KYNCL @jdkyn

França said they will give students every tool to help study abroad. The number of students still planning on studying abroad won’t be known until the trips begin, she said.

“

“When we review our current application numbers, we seem to be on par with pre-COVID applications, though there is no way to know for sure until we see students on their programs.�

There is no one from OU. OU is (the) only American University they have a contract with, and I am the only student here.

-Daniela Kosnacova,

OU international development and environmental sustainability junior

“We are taking ever y precaution to provide students with the tools to study abroad under the ‘new normal’ of a post-pandemic experience,â€? França said.

França said her focus has not been on the financial impact that may be looming for the department, and is instead on the impact the year will have on students.

“The lack of students abroad for the summer and fall 2020 terms does have a financial impact on the Education Abroad office,�

França said. “However, the most important is the impact it had on those students who were unable to participate in study abroad during those terms. Some students have been able to seek programs in future terms but for some, this was their only opportunity to partake in this lifechanging experience.â€?

One of the students that was hoping to participate in a study abroad program was Grayson Wise, a junior majoring in art history. Without being able to study abroad this year due to COVID-19, her plans had to be changed. “I was supposed to study abroad in Arezzo, Italy, in the fall and then in France in the spring of 2021, so the whole year,� Wise said. “I planned

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The “Rubaiyat� statue depicting Omar Khayyam outside of Farzaneh Hall wears a mask July 15.

“

As borders have closed across the globe and new travel restrictions arise due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students and faculty are anxiously hoping for a return of OU’s flagship study abroad program.

Each year, OU sends hundreds of students to programs across the world to study abroad. Currently, however, OU has only one student studying abroad, according to Education Abroad Director Whitney França.

Daniela Kosnacova, an international development and environmental sustainability junior from Slovakia, began studying abroad in the spring semester in France where she requested an extended stay as the COVID19 pandemic was spreading.

Shortly after it was approved, all domestic students studying abroad were sent home. “All the American OU students had to go back to the US, but because there was a ban for Europeans to go to the US, even if I wanted to go I couldn’t,� Kosnacova said. “I went back home to Slovakia where I stayed until September, and then in September I came back here to France.�

Kosnacova said this semester is different, as she is the only student from an American university to be studying at UniversitĂŠ C l e r m o nt Auve rg n e i n Clermont-Ferrand, France. “We’re all basically internationals,â€? Kosnacova said. “There is no one from OU. OU is (the) only American university they have a contract with, and I am the only student here.â€?

Even with the uncertainty across the globe at this time, Kosnacova said study abroad will continue, just with a few changes. “It’s definitely not like the end of study abroad,�

Kosnacova said. “They’re going to make sure all the students know what to prepare when traveling because the health security measures are now going all over.�

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Previous Solution

Instructions: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box.

By Eugenia Last

Copyright 2020, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020 ASTROGRAPH by Eugenia Last Take more time to do things that make you happy. Discuss your intentions with people you want to be involved in your plans. Look for viable solutions to lingering problems. Concentrate on learning and discovering. Take action and make changes to the way you handle and earn money.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Uncertainty at home will change the way you live. Address shared expenses to maintain equality.

Pulling your weight will affect how others treat you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Extravagant spending will lead to trouble. A change regarding how you take care of your responsibilities will affect your income. Be proactive and flexible for optimum efficiency.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- An emotional situation will result if someone challenges your beliefs and values. Listen carefully, but don’t reveal your opinion. It’s best to keep the peace and go about your business.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- A change you make will upset someone, but it will ultimately be beneficial. Offer compensation for what someone has to give up so you can get your way. Maintaining equality will encourage a better relationship as you move forward.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Take care of your home, family and yourself. Rest, proper diet and exercise will help you stay healthy.

Do your own thing, and focus on self-improvement.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- Make changes that suit your needs and help you protect your position, reputation and financial security.

Money or a gift is heading your way.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Consider what you’ve been doing to earn your keep and how you can adjust your daily routine to suit your needs. Striving for a healthier, happier lifestyle will bring you closer to someone who shares your values.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- Safe socializing will be a must if you want to maintain good health.

Physical improvements will lift your spirits. Romance is in the stars and will lead to talks about intentions and long-term plans.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -Avoid getting into a standoff with a loved one. Listen to others and look for solutions that will not jeopardize a meaningful relationship or your integrity. Channel your energy into creative ideas and pastimes.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -Don’t react irrationally to something you cannot change. Look for the positive in every situation you face, and you’ll come up with a workable solution that will encourage you to be your best. Romance is encouraged.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Calm down, stay focused and avoid emotional confrontations. Don’t feel that you must get involved in other people’s melodramas. Consider what’s best for you and how to use your skills to get ahead. Channel your anger and frustration into achievement.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Put emotional matters aside and focus on whatever brings the best return.

Find a unique way to use your skills to improve your personal and professional lives. Romance will encourage a positive lifestyle change.

on at least doing a semester but since it’ll be my senior year, and I really don’t want to do it in the spring because I would like to walk.�

Wise isn’t worried about studying abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic, but she is worried about other countries denying U.S. citizens because of the way it has impacted this country. “I don’t really worry about feeling unsafe or anything about being abroad,� Wise said. “But I do worry about the way that the United States has handled it because it seems very unlikely that we’ll be able to go anywhere soon, but I feel like other countries have done a better job at containing it.�

Even with some students possibly feeling hesitant to travel abroad, Kosnacova said she would recommend studying abroad if ever given the chance.

“Everyone is more scared to do things,� Kosnacova said. “When students have the opportunity to go somewhere and the school will allow them to go, I really hope that their passion for traveling is gonna overcome their fear (of ) getting something.�

Ko s n a c ov a a l s o s a i d she believes that COVID19 shouldn’t stop people from pursuing their dreams and passions for studying abroad. “If they have a chance and if they get the money to do it, definitely they should do it,� Kosnacova said. “It shouldn’t stop students from pursuing their dream or just pure curiosity. If they want to see the world and they do have a chance, they shouldn’t hesitate.�

Jonathan Kyncl jkyncl@ou.edu

Universal Crossword Edited by David Steinberg October 6, 2020 ACROSS 1 Fry source 5 “Hold it!�

9 Herb in caprese salad 14 “Beloved� author Morrison 15 Device that enables bingewatching 16 Dumpster smells 17 No ifs, ___ or buts 18 Holder in a film archive 19 Primed for an argument 20 Carrier to Prague (see letters 4 to 8) 23 Cassis cocktail 24 Recycling container 25 Like “it,� grammatically 28 Turn into compost 29 Manual mode’s counterpart 31 Equal: Prefix 32 Puerto ___ 35 By its very nature, in court (3 to 6) 37 Dutchspeaking Caribbean island 39 H.S. “ruling� class 40 Admiral’s command 41 Tool for updating online text (3 to 5) 43 Avails oneself of

10/6

44 Doubles in tennis?

45 “Parasite� director Bong ___-ho 46 Beaver’s project 48 Put another layer of varnish on 50 Morning moisture 51 Comic-strip “Horrors!�

54 Canadian jazz pianist who won eight Grammys (3 to 8) 58 Reason to march 60 Effortlessness 61 Peak 62 Choose to participate 63 Synagogue chests 64 Capital where “all roads lead�

65 Attack from every side 66 Apt rhyme for “infest�

67 List-ending abbr.

DOWN 1 Five pancakes, often 2 Shady kind of scheme 3 Subordinate to 4 Part of CD 5 Connecting waterway 6 Book with photos from a movie, e.g.

7 Mind ___ matter 8 Survey of opinions

9 Carried away 10 Vowel-heavy farewell 11 Summer and winter occurrences 12 Pique 13 Something dropped at Woodstock 21 2020 network for “Perry Mason�

22 Enthusiastic about 26 Cosmetician Lauder 27 Miniseries of 1977 and 2016 28 Spa wrap 29 Kitchen splatter catcher 30 KGB state, once 32 Having less training 33 Cara of “Fame�

34 Children who earn badges

35 Analogy phrase 36 University grad 38 Next (to) 42 Minimal amount 46 Abhor 47 More than mere respect 49 Davis of “School Daze�

50 Office furniture 51 Broad neckwear 52 Mark where a reader breathes 53 Prepare to be knighted 55 Collect, as rewards 56 Take the rind off 57 Not often seen 58 Stripped barbecue discard 59 Mimic

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER PREVIOUS ANSWER

10/5 9/29

Š 2020 Andrews McMeel Universal Š 2020www.upuzzles.com Andrews McMeel Universal www.upuzzles.com

Interior Design by Leonard Malkin and Brad Wilber

CULTURE

Oct. 6-12, 2020 •

5

Theatre Crude streams festival

Shows include free performances from various companies JAZZ WOLFE @jazzmwolfe

Before COVID-19 shut down many parts of the fine arts industry, plans were in motion for a 2020 Fringe Festival but soon changed as businesses began to close.

The fine arts, including Theatre Crude, have struggled during the pandemic and are fighting for a respite.

In 2019, the Fringe Festival took place over the course of two weeks at the indoor Plenty Mercantile Venue in Oklahoma City, showcasing 10 acts made up of both local and national performance companies.

This year will be a little bit different. The festival began Oct. 1 and is completely online.

Jenny and Adam Brand, co-founders of Theatre Crude, worked hard with their board members and a large number of artists and performers to bring everything back together.

“It has been a learning experience,” Jenny Brand said.

The term “fringe” in theater often means a low-tech performance, but a higher number of visual and audio recording equipment had

PHOTO PROVIDED BY ABBY WELCH

Kato Buss in The Gravel Road Show performs the University of Central Oklahoma’s “Oklahoma, USA!” from the 2019 Theatre Crude Fringe Festival.

to be utilized to move everything online, Brand said.

Their goal is to keep all tech at the lowest level possible, and they are working to stay true to “fringe” and all it entails.

In deciding to move online, Brand and the board sat down with all the artists they had lined up and asked what they wanted to do.

“Every single one of them said this is something that is important to us and the community,” Brand said.

Brand said they worked to find all types of performances and companies, and their goal is to demonstrate all levels and types of performance.

One of the performances is a musical puppet show

from the company Floor Banana. Another is a comedy from Namron Players Theatre, a nonprofit, and will portray a worker responding to “willfully negative online reviews.” A more serious production entitled “Birthday Boys” is the story of two older men discussing their lives.

In fringe festivals,

performance companies are typically selected on a “first come, first serve” basis, said Brand. This year, they chose to do a curated festival in which an interview and audition process was used to select the performers.

All the performance videos will feature a link to a virtual “tip jar” where the audience can directly send

money to the artists. These “tip jars” can be found through the Theatre Crude website by going directly to each performance’s page.

In an effort to ensure the audience gets the most out of the performances, Theatre Crude and the artists have also listed suggested age ranges and possible triggering content in each show at the bottom of the performances’ pages.

“Our audience are such an important part of this artistic process,” said Brand.

Acts premiere at 7 p.m.

Oct. 1–10 on the Theatre C r u d e Yo u Tu b e a n d Facebook pages for free, with additional premiers at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 2 and 9. All performances will be available until Oct. 31 with a $5 purchase of an all-access pass.

Brand said the festival is a great opportunity for the artists involved and the community to renew the fine arts during the pandemic.

“A lot of the art that most people have been exposed to in theater have come from, if not fringe festivals, then something very similar,” Brand said. “A big part of that is audiences taking that journey with us.”

Jazz Wolfe

jazzwolfe@ou.edu

See updated hours for your Norman favorites Find out when city, Campus Corner eateries are open JACINDA HEMEON @jacindarae4

COVID-19 has drastically changed most people’s daily routines. From online classes to restaurant and bar closures, campus life has never looked quite like this.

If you’re wondering w h i c h o f y o u r f av o r i t e Norman restaurants are open for business, check out this list of COVID-19 operating hours.

CAMPUS CORNER APPLE TREE CHOCOLATE You can pop in and get a caramel apple from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, or from noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

HURTS DONUTS Hurts is still serving up its creative donut delicacies, but no longer 24/7.

The Norman location is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 7 a.m. to mid night Friday and Saturday and closed Monday and Tuesday.

O ’ C O N N E L L’ S I R I S H normal hours of 10:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

PUB & GRILLE O ’ C o n n s i s o p e n f o r JIMMY JOHN’S their nor mal operating hours from 10 a.m. to 2 Jimmy John’s is serving a.m Wednesday through subs every day from 11 a.m.

Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Saturday, but now closes at midnight on Monday and Tuesday, and is closed on OTHER NORMAN Sundays.

FAVORITES FUZZY’S TACO SHOP According to a staff member, Fuzzy’s now closes for the night a little earlier. The taco shop will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday and Sunday.

BISON WITCHES Bison Witches is open for its normal hours of 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Tuesday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

LOUIE’S GRILL & BAR

MICHELANGELO’S Louie’s is open for its COFFEE & WINE BAR normal hours of 11 a.m. to Michaelangelo’s is open 2 a.m. every day.

8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.

PICKLEMAN’S GOURMET CAFE t o 1 0 p. m . F r i d a y a n d Saturday and 9 a.m. to 8 Pickleman’s is open from p.m. Sunday.

10 a.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday and from GRAY OWL COFFEE 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Wednesday.

Gray Owl is operating for limited hours until further STARBUCKS notice. The popular study You can grab a cup of corner is open from 7 a.m. joe from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. LIBRARY BAR & GRILL Saturday and Sunday.

Librar y Bar & Gr ill is CHIPOTLE open from 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Chipotle is open for its Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

THE MONT The Mont is open for its usual operating hours and will be serving up snacks and drinks 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.

THE WINSTON The Winston is also open for its usual hours of 11 a.m. to midnight. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY

Campus Corner during the first day of online classes after Spring Break on March 23.

Jacinda Hemeon

jacinda.r.hemeon@ou.edu

VIA NORMAN MUSIC FESTIVAL TWITTER

Norman Music Festival’s online concert series will begin with a streamed performance of Helen Kelter Skelter on Oct. 9.

NMF to host concert series Event to feature local artists with unusual sounds JILLIAN TAYLOR @jilliantaylor_

Norman Music Festival will continue to highlight local artists despite the pandemic through a livestreamed concert series starting Oct. 9.

Norman Music Festival announced “NMF Transmissions” after the in-person festival’s cancellation June 24. Joshua Boydston, a board member of the Norman Music Alliance, said once it was clear that a live audience would be impossible, the board began discussing what a digital version of the festival would look like.

“Throughout quarantine, artists have done these awesome livestreams to keep people engaged, so we were looking into how we would create a digital version of the festival experience,” Boydston said. “We wanted to allow artists to best utilize that format for themselves and we wanted anything we did produce to reflect … the festival itself.”

Boydston said the artists who normally host livestreamed concerts possess an acoustic or folk sound,

making a show from home a simple task. Artists who perform heavier music genres — such as rock or metal — have not had this opportunity, he said.

Transmissions’ Oct. 9 headliner Helen Kelter Skelter is the type of band Boydston said the livestream is hoping to promote.

“They haven’t played at all since February, as their experimental metal and psychedelic rock sound doesn’t play well from home,” Boydston said.

“This is kind of an opportunity for us to spotlight some of these artists who haven’t gotten to play in the way that they normally do.”

The festival will be pre-recorded in a Toucan Productions warehouse, which nor mally stores stages and lights the company sells for live events.

Boydston said the entertainment equipment company’s space has equipment waiting to be used by artists — making it the perfect environment to produce a live show.

Through the inclusion of laser lights and visual effects, Boydston said the concert will be staged in a way that allows audiences to feel like they are with the artists as they perform.

He said the livestream will maintain an energetic environment and acknowledge

local artists, despite its lack of an in-person audience.

“I think everyone’s trying to do things that … (are) the closest replication of what they’re good at that they can,” Boydston said. “Every artist is hurting out there — there is no shortage of that … (and) we are here to celebrate them.”

In a pandemic where social distancing is becoming normalized, Boydston said it was hard to lose the community-building aspect of the festival, as he has seen it reunite people on- and off-stage. He said he is hopeful the livestream will allow people to connect in a comfortable setting while celebrating the work of local musicians. “ Ev e r y o n e h a s b e e n going through a tough time overall, but I think that to the extent that you’re able you can discover music through us … and find those musicians and people you love,” Boydston said. “The art itself is first and foremost, and (artists) just love to see their art spread around.”

NMF Transmissions is free and airs Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. on Facebook, YouTube and Twitch. Later dates will be posted in the coming weeks.

Jillian Taylor

jillian.g.taylor-2@ou.edu

6

SPORTS

• Oct. 6-12, 2020

Performance frustrates coaches

Sooners’ loss to Iowa State marks new low for team CALEB MCCOURRY @CalebMac21

AMES, Iowa — then-No. 18 Oklahoma (1-2, 0-2 Big 12) has reached a low it hasn’t seen in 20 years.

The last time OU lost two consecutive games to start off conference play was in 1998, John Blake’s last season as head coach. When Bob Stoops took the helm in 1999, that was the last time OU lost two consecutive games at all. Under Stoops and now-head coach Lincoln Riley, from 2000–19, OU had never faced this kind of adversity. For three years under Riley, the Sooners have always been able to come back from a lost game around midseason.

But OU’s 37–30 loss to Iowa State (2-1, 2-0 Big 12) Saturday night — and its 38–35 loss to Kansas State a week before — is a new reality for Oklahoma football. The Sooners, while able to get leads early in both games, struggled mightily to force turnovers, tackle consistently and simply just finish the game.

“For us that frustration can pull over into getting discouraged into not continuing to push and be in the direction that we know we can,” Riley said after the game. “That frustration is going to continue to fuel us and we have to continue to push to be what we can because we know what we can be and we’re not there yet.

And I know nobody wants to hear it. But the reality is we’re close. We’re closer than even we think right now.”

There is no doubt Oklahoma is able to start games. OU’s defensive line brought constant pressure to quarterback Brock Purdy, who completed only 12 of his 24 pass attempts to finish the game. He was 7-of-15 in the first half.

TREY YOUNG/THE DAILY

Defensive coordinator and safeties coach Alex Grinch talks to the Sooners defense during the Sooners’ season opener against Missouri State on Sept. 12.

But in the past two weeks, when the third and fourth quarters came around, the Sooners lost their intensity.

Against Kansas State and Iowa State, the Sooners’ defense allowed 534 total second-half yards of offense. Combined with the lack of turnovers, OU’s defense has begun to look like the defense of old.

Tied 23–23 with just over 10 minutes in regulation, the Sooners finally got what second-year defensive coordinator Alex Grinch wants the most: a turnover — OU’s first since its first game this season. Sooner defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas forced Purdy to fumble, prompting sophomore Josh Ellison to recover. Four plays later, OU quarterback Spencer Rattler found H-back Jeremiah Hall for a 3-yard touchdown. It was

30–23 with just over eight minutes in regulation.

Then Oklahoma’s special teams fell apart. Cyclone returner Kene Nwangwu took the kick back 63 yards to the OU 2-yard line, allowing Purdy to score on a keeper to tie the game at 30–30. The Sooners ended the next drive punting from their own 18-yard line, and four plays later Iowa State running back Breece Hall was able to run 8 yards for a touchdown to put the Cyclones up 37–30 — the last score of the game. Rattler threw an interception on OU’s last drive and Iowa State took victory formation.

The Sooners and Iowa State both tallied nine penalties, with the Sooners racking up 93 penalty yards. These penalties ranged from two pass interference calls from junior

nickel Brendan Radley-Hiles, to a holding call from junior cornerback Tre Brown — on third down in the third quarter that led to OU losing its lead for the first time all game.

With a fresh set of downs from Brown’s call, Purdy connected with Cyclone Xavier Hutchinson for a 65-yard touchdown to Iowa State up 23–20 going into the fourth quarter.

The Sooners started the night with a dominant performance from their defensive line. Purdy felt pressure from OU’s pass rush for all of the first half, only completing seven of his 15 pass attempts.

The Cyclones only tallied 39 rushing yards in the first half as well. Those stats became 417 total yards of offense — 139 of which came from Iowa State’s Hall, whose swift running style

prompted Oklahoma defenders to miss tackles all game.

Mistakes were littered all over OU’s defensive game Saturday night.

“The fix is right there in front of us,” Grinch said after the game. “Every tackle that was missed tonight is one that has to be made. There’s not anything we can do in football that doesn’t include finishing a football play. But by tackling the ball carrier ... that was something that was obviously disappointing. So is the fix simple? Yeah. Is it easy? Of course not.”

Grinch took OU’s defense from the bottom of the NCAA’s total defense national rankings all the way to No. 38 finishing the 2019 season. On Saturday, the Cyclones were able to average 7.4 yards per play on OU. The season is already different enough as it is with the

COVID-19 pandemic, but Riley has said multiple times this season it’s no excuse for what this team can do. OU is only three games into the season, and fans are witnessing a new low for OU football. With seven conference games to go, the Sooners have a ways to go to reach what potential the Sooners are capable of reaching.

“The only disappointment, the only failure in this thing will be if we don’t find out how good we can be, and if we let this somehow take away from our growth as a football team,” Riley said. “So you got a choice, these are tough times and either you back down or bow up and we’ll find out what we’re all about.”

Caleb McCourry

caleb.a.mccourry-1@ou.edu

Sooners’ playoff hopes ‘What the f---’: Rattler’s disintegrate in Ames second-straight loss ‘Gut-wrenching’ defeat hits newly unranked team

Sooners fall to 0-2 in Big 12 play against Iowa State

MASON YOUNG @Mason_Young_0

CHANDLER ENGELBRECHT

As Iowa State redshirt freshman defensive back Isheem Young corralled OU quarterback Spencer Rattler’s spiraling pass in the end zone, history was in his hands while he lay on the turf at Jack Trice Stadium.

Sixty years of misery ended for the Cyclones (2-1, 2-0 Big 12), as they beat then-No. 18 Oklahoma (1-2, 0-2 Big 12) at home for the first time since 1960 with their 37-30 victory Saturday evening.

The misery only continued for the Sooners, as they produced an 0-2 start in conference play for the first time since 1998 — when legendary OU head coach Bob Stoops was still Florida’s defensive coordinator — and added their first consecutive Big 12 defeats since 1999.

After back-to-back losses at the hands of Kansas State and the Cyclones, Oklahoma’s aspirations for a sixth consecutive Big 12 Championship were buried in Ames.

“A tough loss,” was all head coach Lincoln Riley could muster for the first sentence of his postgame opening statement. “I mean, a very, very kind of gut-wrenching loss.”

The conference giant that made the College Football Playoff four of the last five years as a one-loss squad has now suffered two losses in a regular season for the first time since 2016 — Stoops’ last year as head coach before yielding to Riley.

2020 will most likely also be the first time Oklahoma doesn’t reach the CFP with

Broadcast cameras followed quarterback Spencer Rattler back to the Sooners’ sideline after his final pass attempt of the day ended up in the hands of an Iowa State defender instead of wide receiver Charleston Rambo, who was 46 yards downfield in the end zone.

As the redshirt freshman looked toward the jumbotron at Jack Trice Stadium and the Cyclone offense retook the field needing just one first down to end the game, the cameras caught three words escaping from the mouth of the former five-star prospect.

“What the f---,” Rattler said as Iowa State (2-1, 2-0 Big 12) upset the Sooners, 37–30, marking Oklahoma’s first 0-2 start in conference play since 1998.

Rattler voiced the reason behind his frustration in a post game media Zoom conference.

“I wanted to give (Rambo) a shot to make a play,” he said.

“When I threw it, it felt like it came out well. I witnessed him get held, (but) all the calls don’t go your way. It would have been different, obviously, if it was cleaner, but sometimes it doesn’t go like that.”

Rattler ended the day with 300 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 25-of-36 passing. Though it was only the third start of his career, it was the second time Rattler has been tasked with putting together a game-winning drive. He’s now 0-for-2 in such scenarios, but that’s

@ctengelbrecht

TY RUSSELL/OU ATHLETICS

Quarterback Spencer Rattler jumps through Iowa State players toward the end zone Oct. 3.

Riley at the helm. Riley seemed dumbfounded at the loss after a week of practice in which he really thought the Sooners were ready to catch fire.

“I thought our team really responded to a lot of things we put in front of them as coaches all week,” Riley said. “I thought we had a very spirited week and really a very spirited sideline in our game. (We) had some opportunities, I thought there, especially in the first half, to really gain some separation. We were playing good ball, just not great ball and had some chances to separate against a good team on the road, which when you’re a great team, you take advantage of those, and we’re not quite there yet.”

OU was just the latest victim in a wild day of football that saw No. 9 Texas — Oklahoma’s next opponent — fall to unranked TCU, while Oklahoma State stands as the only undefeated team left in the Sooners’ conference.

The forecast for the Sooners’ upcoming game against the Longhorns indicates the contest won’t be nearly the marquee matchup it’s been in recent years. In each of the last two seasons, both teams

have been ranked entering their showdown at the Cotton Bowl. The same has been true in 14 of the rivals’ last 20 regular season meetings.

Bu t a f t e r 6 4 -s t ra i g ht Associated Press polls in which Oklahoma was ranked, Sunday’s update didn’t yield the same result.

Despite another crushing setback, the redshirt freshman Rattler, redshirt junior center Creed Humphrey and junior safety Pat Fields — OU’s QB1 and two captains, respectively — were united in their resolve as they talked to the media about preparing to face the Longhorns.

The rest of an ever-evolving season amid COVID-19 is even more murky than it was before Saturday, but the boys in crimson and cream believe they’re capable of a rebound in Dallas next weekend. “(We’ll) just prepare like we do every week,” Rattler said.

“We had a great week of practice this week. Our plan is to have the same mentality going in this next week, just focus on what we have to focus on, get better at what we have to get better on overall as a team.”

Mason Young

mason.e.young-1@ou.edu

TY RUSSELL/OU ATHLETICS

T.J. Pledger keeps an eye on an Iowa State player in the Sooners’ game against Iowa State on Oct. 3.

a record that falls as much on his teammates as it does him.

“We have to learn from these past two games,” redshirt junior center Creed Humphrey said. “(We need to) see what we’ve been doing wrong, and work our asses off to fix it this next week. …

This next week of practice has to be ridiculously good and we have to attack it the right way. We can’t hold our heads down because we’ve lost two in a row. We have to get over that, get back up and go on to the next one. I’m excited to see how this team responds.

The Sooners’ offensive line continued its lackluster play from the unit’s first two games, as Oklahoma only posted 114 total rushing yards. OU was held below 115 rushing yards twice in 2019, and lost both contests. So far this season, the Sooners have yet to rush for more than 130 total yards.

In an attempt to boost Oklahoma’s rushing attack, Rattler found himself more involved in the run game this week, tallying a rushing touchdown of his own on a five-yard keeper that led to him leaping in the air to make the play.

“I feel like (running the ball) was something that would help our team,” Rattler said.

“When it was there, I took it.

… Just got to improve on those things and keep working on it.

“We’re making plays, we’re doing a lot of positive things.

We’re so, so close to filling that gap.”

Oklahoma’s loss also marked the first time that head coach Lincoln Riley has lost to more than one Big 12 team in a regular season since taking the job in 2017. After describing the feeling as sickening, Riley said his team still has one big thing to learn — how to close a game.

“We felt like we took some steps (toward getting better),” he said. “It’s hard to accept that when you look at the scoreboard at the end of the game, and we’re so used to winning and we expect to win every time we touch the field.

That’s not going to change, (but) we have some key guys that are young and in some of these positions for the first time, they’ve got to grow. We have to continue to coach them better and we’ve got to continue to go finish. We’ve got to continue to grow and get to the point where we can finish the games we know we can and play as good as we know.”

Chandler Engelbrecht

chandler.engelbrecht@ou.edu