Each morning Longhorns Wire will share the top stories from around the Big 12 Conference. For this edition of the Big 12 Morning the Kansas City Star and USA TODAY Sports provide the headlines.

Oklahoma football pauses workouts due to change in 2020 schedule

Lincoln Riley and the Oklahoma Sooners have paused football activities thanks to a change in their schedule. Missouri State was scheduled to visit Norman on Aug. 29 but is now delayed by a week or two.

After the NCAA approved of the waiver, Oklahoma’s first game was moved up one week to Aug. 29. That allowed the Sooners to begin practice, but practices have come to a stop.

“We decided it’s best to give our players some time off,” said Lincoln Riley in a press release on Saturday night. “We were able to start camp before the vast majority of teams because our Aug. 29 season-opening game date was the earliest in the country. With that first game pushed back a week or two, it only makes sense to spread out our practices and give our guys some time away. They’ve done a great job so far.”

In the release, Oklahoma announces the first game is not taking place on Aug. 29 against Missouri State. Riley mentioned the fact that a lot of conversations are happening about punting on the fall season entirely.

Big 12 teams may need to scramble for replacement games with FCS football in jeopardy

The Missouri Valley Conference, host conference of five potential Big 12 nonconference opponents, is expected to announce the cancelation of their season. Now, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State are all in danger of having to find new opponents.

The Missouri Valley Conference, which is home to North Dakota (K-State opponent), Missouri State (Oklahoma opponent), South Dakota (Iowa State opponent), Western Illinois (Oklahoma State opponent) and Southern Illinois (Kansas opponent), will reportedly announce plans to cancel fall sports.

But those aren’t the only Big 12 teams that might be looking for replacement opponents to fill new gaps on their schedules over the weekend. A new NCAA rule states that in order to hold a championship for a sport this season, at least half the teams in a college division must participate. As cancellations mounts, it’s starting to look like no FCS teams will take the field in the fall.

Some have suggested it might be possible for FCS teams to play select non-conference matchups while punting conference games and the playoff to the spring. Still, all of those games are now in jeopardy.

How Oklahoma State WR Tylan Wallace used cat litter to help rehab torn ACL during pandemic

Oklahoma State’s Tylan Wallace was one of the best receivers in the country before tearing his ACL. A delayed start to the season will help him recover, as will this unusual rehabilitation method.

“At one point I was doing squats with cat litter, 40-pound boxes of cat litter,” Wallace said. “I was trying to make it work with whatever I had.

“I was working out in my living room. I was jogging around trails. I was doing whatever I could to try and stay in shape. It was definitely tough, but it was worth it now.”

The cat litter and jogging trails got Wallace through April and May. Then on June 1, he was among the first group of Cowboys to report back to campus, where he got to get back in the weight room.

“Coming in and actually going into the training room, actually doing rehab stuff where they have the right equipment and everything I need was a big boost from the cat litter boxes,” Wallace said.

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