Stands to reason that nothing about the COVID-19 college football season has felt normal, so why should the bowl game?

Although Oklahoma remains mostly intact for the showdown against Florida in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, the Gators are certainly missing some key parts.

Tight end Kyle Pitts let it be known immediately he was moving on toward focusing on the NFL Draft, and now Florida’s other three top receivers won’t be in the game for either opting out or because of COVID-19.

But quarterback Kyle Trask remains. As long as he’s there, it’s still a great chance for Alex Grinch’s defense to show just how far they’ve come in such a short period of time.

To label this a statement game or a springboard game, though, doesn’t ring true in the eyes of head coach Lincoln Riley.

“I mean, I hope we play well defensively, but I don't – I just think each year is its own year,” Riley said. “You guys have heard me say that a lot. Every challenge is different. Your team's different. Opponent's different. Situation's different. So we're just going to try to be the very best that we can tomorrow night.

“Whatever people want to say about a big picture, that will be their choice. The only thing we can control is the way we prepare and the way we perform tomorrow night, and we're going to try to stay locked on that.”

As good as some of the offenses in the Big 12 have been, this will be the first top-10 offense the Sooners have seen this season even if it does look a little different than what it did during the regular season.

The Gators are ranked ninth in total offense, averaging more than 508 yards per game.

OU’s only known opt-out, at least at this time, is cornerback Tre Brown.

This game still matters

The growing sentiment around college football is how to keep the non-playoff bowl games as something special.

Each year, it feels like its losing some luster, and 2020 is just a different animal because of COVID-19 and the mental and physical grind the players have gone through.

No doubt that’s played a role, said Riley, but he said that shouldn’t understate how important a game like Wednesday is.

“We've had a couple of our guys that have made the decision to transfer out and the transfer portal and guys wanting to get to a new home and kind of get that all figured out as a factor as well,” Riley said. “So do a couple of guys – or are there going to be a couple of players here and there through the years that maybe think the bowl game is not that important? There may be.

“But we've got to be careful and take the 1 or 2 percent and say, well, that's how everybody feels. Because there's a big percentage of both of our football teams that are going to be pretty excited to play this football game tomorrow night. So I tend to go with the majority and think these games are still pretty darned important.”

Dougherty stepping up

Talking about players not participating, OU obviously has an assistant coaching vacancy. Shane Beamer has officially left to take over as head coach at South Carolina, meaning OU will have to fill the void with the tight ends/H-Backs and special teams.

Riley isn’t too concerned, although he understands how big of a role that is.

“Not too bad. We've elevated Ryan Dougherty who's been our special teams quality control, we've elevated him to coordinate and to take over Shane's responsibilities,” Riley said. “And he's done a great job. Obviously, we know that we didn't have Coach Beamer available for a game earlier this year. And Ryan did the same think and did a tremendous job. He'll serve in that same role and is very comfortable and very well-versed in what we want to do there.”

In a way, the Baylor game was a test run for Dougherty and the rest of the staff as Beamer was not in attendance because of COVID-19/contact tracing issues.

Give it up for Trask

Really no other way to say it. Down Pitts, Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes, and Trask simply doesn’t care. The Heisman finalist is still going to be out there.

As much as it could be viewed as a tough situation, it’s also one where Trask has first-hand knowledge of taking advantage of an opportunity like that.

“So there are guys that have kind of been in maybe that supporting actor role now that are going into the lead role in the show tomorrow night,” head coach Dan Mullen said. “And so I think those guys are excited for that opportunity to get out there and go make plays.

“I want to say we're – off scholarship number, I think we probably have about 60 scholarship guys playing in the game.”

Trask’s story is well-known about biding your time, even in high school. He was never the No. 1 guy at high school or college before finally emerging with the Gators.

Perseverance. Character. Call it what you want, but Trask has it in spades.

“And now he is a guy to go from a guy that didn't play high school football to a Heisman Trophy finalist. It just shows the character he has,” Mullen said. “So we met and I know he's excited to go play in the game. He's worked his butt off to get the opportunity to go play.

“I know people look at things and say, OK, we're at the Cotton Bowl and this is a big, big game. You know what? And competitors, they want to play in big games. I know he's a competitor and he's really excited to play in this game.”