OU kickers on Mitchell Park infield

Bob Stoops acted like the possibility of playing Miami partially on infield dirt at Miami’s Landshark Stadium was no big deal. But the more he thought about it, the more he decided it couldn’t hurt to prepare.

“Maybe I’ll send the kickers over to the baseball field,” Stoops told me Tuesday afternoon.

And on Wednesday, that’s exactly what Stoops did. Jimmy Stevens and the rest of the OU kickers worked out at Mitchell Park, kicking off the infield dirt.

Wise move. Georgia Tech played Miami last week at Landshark, and with the Florida Marlins still in season, the baseball layout remained. Which meant a portion of the game was played on dirt. Same with the Dolphins-Colts on Monday night. Georgia Tech’s Scott Blair missed a 39-yard field goal off the infield dirt, only Blair’s second miss in 19 career attempts from inside 40 yards.

ESPN’s Erin Andrews reported during the game that players from both teams were getting cut and scraped from the dirt. I don’t know how you prepare for that, but no doubt you can prepare for the kicking. Stoops indicated the shoes would be no different for grass or dirt — not that you could do much if they were — and he, as usual, presented a front of no big deal.

The Marlins are only 41/2 games back in the wild-card standings, so while their final scheduled home game is Sunday, Landshark must remain baseball-ready so long as Florida’s playoff hopes are alive. We are trying to find out from Miami officials how soon the park can be transformed to total grass, but so far no information.