COVID Update 11/05/2020
By Makenna Biehl
After a year of battling COVID precautions leading up to the college football season, this week marks game week for the entire Power 5. The ACC, SEC, Big 12, and Big Ten have all began to play, with the Pac-12 joining them this Saturday. Along with the Power 5 all playing this week, the MAC will be kicking off their season as well. While multiple conferences are playing, there are still obstacles with COVID to get through every day, including the cancellation of games.
Wisconsin Football announced this past Tuesday that their game against Purdue this upcoming Saturday had been canceled. Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said, “I share in the disappointment of our student-athletes and staff. We have seen a level of improvement in our testing numbers, but not enough to give us confidence to resume normal activities and play our game on Saturday.”
While some games have been canceled, some teams are just facing postponement changes to their schedule. Louisville was scheduled to meet Virginia this Saturday, but the game has been postponed due to high amounts of COVID cases. Last week the Louisville Cardinals had nine players out due to COVID, and those numbers have increased since. The Cardinals will now face the Cavaliers on November 14th, which was initially a scheduled bye week.
With some teams dealing with an abundance of cases, the Clemson Tigers Football program continues to excel in keeping cases at a minimum. The most significant loss the Tigers have faced is Trevor Lawrence being out due to a positive COVID test the Thursday before the Boston College game. Lawrence missed the game against the Eagles and will miss playing against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. However, Lawrence will be on the sidelines in South Bend as he will be cleared from quarantine, just not finished with his cardiac protocols.
As college football teams continue to battle the challenges of COVID, the Clemson Tigers will be making the trip to South Bend to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday at 7:30 PM.
