It was a busy week in the college football world away from the field. Unfortunately, none of the news was rather good. Nevertheless, let’s catch up on what you need to know heading into the weekend.
Calling in Sick
The SEC is more or less calling in sick this week because of multiple COVID-19 outbreaks within locker rooms. As of Thursday morning, four of the league’s seven games scheduled for this weekend have been postponed. That includes Alabama’s showdown with LSU, Texas A&M facing Tennessee, Auburn playing Mississippi State, and Georgia visiting Missouri.
The Tennessee-Texas A&M game and the Auburn-Mississippi State game have been rescheduled for Dec. 12. However, because Missouri and LSU already had rescheduled games on that date, the other two games may not have a chance to be rescheduled.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said he was “shaken but not deterred” by more than half of the SEC’s teams being impacted this week by the spread of the virus.
And the Rest
Outside of the SEC, there have been several other outbreaks leading to the postponement or cancellation of games. No. 3 Ohio State will not play Maryland because of an outbreak at Maryland. Since the Big Ten has no off weeks in its schedule, that game will not be replayed.
The same is also true of Navy’s game with Memphis and Air Force’s trip to Wyoming. In the Sun Belt, the game between Arkansas State and UL Monroe has also been postponed. That’s a total of eight games that won’t be played this week because of COVID-19 concerns.
Hang Them Up
Penn State running back Journey Brown has reached the end of his football journey. The program announced before the season that Brown would sit out the 2020 season because of a medical condition.
This week, Penn State announced that the heart condition discovered during the offseason will force Brown to retire from football. Brown’s condition is called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is a thickening of the heart muscle that can lead to complications. He was Penn State’s primary running back last year and would have been a key figure for the Nittany Lions this year as well.
Just Done
Even if LSU is able to finish its season after this week’s game with Alabama was canceled, the Tigers will do so without quarterback Myles Brennan. A hip/abdominal injury has kept Brennan on the sidelines for over a month.
This week, LSU coach Ed Orgeron admitted that it would take something “miraculous” for Brennan to return to the field this season. That news is just one more nail in the coffin of the season for the reigning national champs. Freshman quarterback TJ Finley has played in place of Brennan but has been wildly inconsistent.
Falling Apart
A bad season is only getting worse for the Florida State Seminoles. This week, the team announced that defensive tackle Marvin Wilson and offensive lineman Devontay Love-Taylor will miss the rest of the season due to injury.
Also, wide receiver Tamorrion Terry, the closest thing FSU has to a star player on offense, has left the program after a tumultuous relationship with the coaching staff. Finally, quarterback James Blackman will transfer after the season, ending an FSU career filled with reasonable highs and terrible lows.
