Saban’s status for Georgia game up in air
Kentucky-Tennessee an ‘under the radar’ matchup
The COVID-19 pandemic is packing a punch in college football this week, nowhere harder than in the Southeastern Conference. But don’t count out Nick Saban just yet. Alabama’s legendary football coach posted a negative test for COVID-19 on Thursday, the university confirmed Friday, and the school continues to make a concerted effort to overturn the SEC’s initial determination that Saban would be unable to coach his team for Saturday’s night game against No. 3 Georgia.
The SEC has confirmed that three consecutive negative tests in the wake of a positive test, which Saban registered Wednesday, would constitute a “false positive” and allow the Crimson Tide’s 68-year-old coach to be on the sidelines at Bryant-Denny Stadium for Saturday’s game ( 6 p.m., CBS).
“Coach Saban was evaluated again today by Dr. (Jimmy) Robinson,” the statement said. “He continues to be asymptomatic and without fever. We are continuing to follow the SEC Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force Protocol for testing asymptomatic positives. A PCR test was repeated Thursday by the SEC appointed lab and was negative. For clarification, the initial positive result came from an outside lab we’ve used to supplement the SEC mandated testing.
“He will continue to remain in isolation and receive daily PCR tests. Should he have three negative PCR tests through the SEC appointed lab, each 24 hours apart, the initial test would be considered a false positive pursuant to SEC protocols and he would be allowed to return.”
That means that Saban needs negative results to come back from the test he underwent Friday and another one Saturday in order to coach his team. Otherwise, he will have to watch the game from home, as was the plan before these latest developments.
In case Saban can’t coach the team Saturday, offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian has been appointed interim head coach. Saban has continued to prepare the Crimson Tide for Saturday night’s matchup against Georgia and coach Kirby Smart, his former defensive coordinator.
Regardless of whether Saban gets cleared, Alabama made the determination that any victory or defeat would be credited to Saban. He has a 21-0 record against his former assistant coaches, which includes a 2-0 mark against Smart at Georgia.
Tuscaloosa and the state of Alabama have been “going crazy” over Saban’s status for the game. The SEC ruled that if Saban — or any SEC coach — remained quarantined because of coronavirus exposure, he could not be at the stadium or school facilities.
That in itself is creating all kinds of unknowns for Alabama, which also has ESPN’s “College GameDay” in town.
The Bulldogs have played in four games in which both teams were ranked in the top three of The Associated Press poll or the College Football Playoff standings. They are scheduled for their fifth such game Saturday night when the No. 3 Bulldogs face No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Saturday’s matchup will be the first time since 1942 that Georgia has played a regular-season game involving two teams in the top three.
Meanwhile, LSU’s game at No. 10 Florida and Vanderbilt’s visit to Missouri also have been postponed.
Two other games involving Top 10 teams also are off: No. 7 Oklahoma State at Baylor and No. 8 Cincinnati at Tulsa.
FIU-Charlotte and Southern Miss-UTEP in Conference USA were postponed, as was the matchup between Appalachian State and Georgia Southern, which hurriedly scheduled a replacement home game against independent Massachusetts.
No. 1 Clemson, No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 5 North Carolina all are double-digit favorites as they look to stay unbeaten in the ACC. The Tigers head to Georgia Tech, the Irish host Louisville and the Tar Heels visit Florida State.
BEST GAME: No. 3 Georgia at No. 2 Alabama
Alabama got into a scoring contest in last week’s 63-48 win against Lane Kiffin and Mississippi. Georgia was challenged for a while against Tennessee, trailing at half before winning 44-21.
The Crimson Tide has won five straight against Georgia and will be meeting the Bulldogs in the regular season for the first time since 2015.
Georgia presents a much bigger physical challenge than the Tide faced last week. The Bulldogs’ run defense is best in the nation. Opponents are averaging 1.49 yards per carry and have scored no rushing touchdowns. The Bulldogs, however, haven’t seen a running back like Najee Harris, who went for a career-high 206 yards and five touchdowns against Ole Miss.
The last two Georgia-Alabama games were classics.
In 2018, Jalen Hurts took over for an injured Tua Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter and led the Tide to a 35-28 win in the SEC championship game in Atlanta. Eleven months earlier on the same field, Tagovailoa had replaced an ineffective Hurts and brought back the Tide from a 13-0 deficit to beat the Bulldogs 26-23 in overtime in the national championship game.
HEISMAN WATCH: Ian Book became Notre Dame’s first quarterback to pile up 2,500 yards passing, 500 yards rushing and 30 touchdown passes in a season, and he’s been steady through three games against overmatched competition.
The third-year starter’s status as a second-tier Heisman candidate could change quickly if the Irish keep winning and he has a big outing against Clemson on Nov. 7.
NUMBERS TO KNOW 1:
Career fumbles by Alabama’s Harris, whose streak of 466 touches without losing the ball ended in the first quarter against Mississippi last week.
8: Fumble recoveries by Central Florida through three games, matching its 13-game total in 2019.
9: Notre Dame’s win streak, the longest among Power Five teams.
UNDER THE RADAR: Kentucky at No. 18 Tennessee
The border rivals are meeting for the 116th time, and Kentucky will be going for its first win in Knoxville since 1984.
The Wildcats’ defense should be plenty confident after holding Mississippi State coach Mike Leach’s “Air Raid” offense without a touchdown last week. Kentucky’s offense needs to get out of neutral, especially the passing game.
Friday night
No. 17 SMU 37, TULANE 34: In New Orleans, Brandon Crossley ended the first overtime possession with an interception and Chris Naggar made a 34-yard field goal to give SMU a victory over Tulane.
Crossley intercepted Tulane freshman Michael Pratt’s pass to put the Mustangs (5-0, 3-0 American Athletic) into position to win with the field goal.
The Green Wave rallied to force OT on Merek Glover’s 27-yard FG with 1:30 left.