Links: Is daily testing by Pac-12 a breakthrough for returning to college sports?
Friday links:
▪ Pac-12 says it will implement daily COVID-19 testing, reports CBS Sports. “The Pac-12 announced Thursday that it plans to implement daily COVID-19 testing for student-athletes in ‘close-contact sports’ by using testing machines that are expected to be delivered to campuses by the end of September. A statement from the league said the Pac-12 will review the testing breakthrough with its sport planning committees and evaluate “the impact on return to competition scenarios.”
▪ Louisville approved for 20 percent capacity at home football games, reports the Courier-Journal. “It’s a 20% capacity with everybody spread out and only sitting next to family units,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in his daily COVID-19 press briefing. “The university worked pretty well with us. They started out in a different place, but at the end of the day, the president (Neeli) Bendapudi called and said ‘We want to do this as safe as we can’ and they showed that commitment.”
▪ Adam Sparks of the Tennessean has a rundown of how SEC football teams are handling stadium policies. UK has yet to announce its protocols or how many fans it might allow in Kroger Field for home games in 2020.
▪ Kentucky football getting respect in one vital area, writes Mark Story of the Herald-Leader. “21. Kentucky football. Some UK backers saw disrespect in the fact that the Wildcats’ season opener at Auburn on Sept. 26 drew the noon television slot on the SEC Network rather than more high-profile TV windows later in the day on CBS or ESPN.”
▪ Tennessee is SEC’s most overrated team, says Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports. “I’m just not there with the Volunteers yet. That was a fine six-game winning streak at the end of last season, but the SEC has proven you need a quarterback to win. I don’t know if Jeremy Pruitt has one. When the standard is Shawn Robinson at Missouri — that’s who Jarrett Guarantano is ranked behind by some in the SEC —then there is a problem. Even with the loss of Joe Burrow, this one of the SEC’s best collection of quarterbacks. The Vols aren’t going anywhere meaningful without inspired quarterback play.”
▪ With Jamie Newman opting out, there’s more pressure on new Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Brandon Sudge of the Macon Telegraph profiles Monken. “This is a ‘get it done’ business, and the good news is we have talent,” said Monken, citing the advantage of working against Georgia’s strong defense. “We’ll work hard to get our guys better and figure out what they can do, and that’s probably the biggest thing.”
▪ Connor Riley of Dawg Nation looks at how Newman’s decision both hurts and helps Georgia. “Newman’s departure gives Georgia just over three weeks to figure out who its starting quarterback for the season-opener against Arkansas will be. The Bulldogs’ first game is on Sept. 26, and Georgia will have between the likes of JT Daniels, D’Wan Mathis, Stetson Bennett and Carson Beck to choose from.”
▪ Mississippi State’s quarterback competition is still open, reports Tyler Horka of the Clarion-Ledger. Stanford transfer K.J. Costello is battling freshman Will Rogers and sophomores Garrett Shrader and Jalen Mayden. “You know I’m kind of waiting for those guys to separate themselves,” said head coach Mike Leach.
▪ South Alabama upset Southern Miss in opener, reports Patrick Magee of the Biloxi Sun Herald. “A South Alabama football program determined to establish a foothold in the Gulf Coast region took a significant step in that direction Thursday night with a 32-21 victory over Southern Miss at M.M. Roberts Stadium. The victory ended a 15-game road losing streak for the Jaguars, including an 0-12 run under Campbell, who is a former head coach at nearby Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.”
▪ Thursday was a beautiful night for sloppy pandemic college football, writes Joseph Goodman of AL.com. UAB defeated Central Arkansas 45-35 before a crowd of 12,716 at Legion Field, which normally seats 62,000.
▪ Nick Saban’s focus on social issues will continue, says Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News. “There is no way to tell how long the echoes of the University of Alabama athletes’ march calling attention to social issues will resonate. History follows its own path, although many national opinions attached special importance to the moment. The world, however, moves fast. New stories replace the old every day. Issues get pushed aside by new issues, The cycle spins on. Nick Saban seems determined not to let that happen to the issue of race relations in America: not on his watch, not while he is coaching a team made up predominantly of Black young men.”
▪ Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated writes about why football matters. “At the granular level, this is why football matters, and why people persist in playing it even now, amid a pandemic that has shut down so many other facets of life. It is ingrained in the annual rhythms of millions of Americans, a family anchor, a community touchstone. It shouldn’t matter this much—but for many, it does.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 8:08 AM.
