Oklahoma wide receivers coach Kevin Sumlin had a reason to be glued to a television Friday night. Houston, the team Sumlin will take over as head coach after the Fiesta Bowl, faced TCU in the Texas Bowl in Houston.

He even did an interview with the NFL Network, which aired during the second quarter.

Sumlin said the decision not to attend the game in person was made shortly after he accepted the job Dec. 14.

“There wasn’t a whole lot I could do. Those guys who were coaching the game … it would have been more of a distraction for me to be there on sideline without much to do,” he said following OU’s practice Friday. “We made the decision early to let them (Houston’s current coaching staff) go through and coach the bowl. There’s no sense in going out there for that. I could watch it and we’ll communicate from there.”

The other reason he wanted to remain in Arizona is OU has entered game-week preparations for the Fiesta Bowl. Friday’s practice was OU’s first in full pads and much of the game plan for West Virginia is being implemented.

Sumlin was asked if he might watch the Texas Bowl in further detail once the Fiesta Bowl is over.

“Oh yeah, I have copies of the last six (Houston) games I’m going to be watching,” he said.

Tuesday practice

It was Saturday, but nobody in OU’s camp paid much attention. The Sooners are in game week preparations and with the Fiesta Bowl five days away they operated under the assumption it was Tuesday.

They’re trying get bowl practices as normal as possible. Saturday, OU practiced in full pads as it typically does five days before playing.

“We’re just trying to keep our normal routine,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “Pretty physical. Do some work against each other and then you get with the scouts and try to simulate what West Virginia’s going to do.”

Interim failure

With Houston’s loss in the Texas Bowl Friday night, teams with interim head coaches have gone 0-4 during the bowl season.