SEC programs thrive after extended breaks
It was announced this week to nobody’s surprise that “pandemic” is the word of 2020.
The coronavirus certainly has altered Southeastern Conference football like never before, but as we enter multiple weekends of December games for the first time ever, the word “rusty” never came into play. There have been seven occasions in which SEC teams had 21 days between games, and those league programs went 6-1 in those contests.
Florida was the first to have such success, as even a stoppage in practicing for more than a week didn’t affect the Gators in a 41-17 Halloween thrashing of Missouri that followed their threeweek layoff.
“This is such a different year, and we started talking about dealing with all the different adversities that could throw themselves out of this season back in March and April,” Gators third-year coach Dan Mullen said Wednesday. “I think our guys were kind of prepared for any kind of curveball that was thrown at us throughout the whole year and have done a great job of adapting. Were this a regular year where something all of a sudden out of nowhere gives you three weeks off, that might affect you, but I think our guys have adapted to every type of variation that has occurred.
“We shut down our program the day we were supposed to start spring practice and were changing training camp the day before it was supposed to start. Our guys bought in with having to deal with different adversity, and it obviously helped us in that scenario.”
Four teams played on Halloween and then didn’t play again until Nov. 21, with that lengthy layoff yielding Alabama’s 63-3 shredding of Kentucky, Auburn’s 30-17 topping of Tennessee, Missouri’s 17-10 win at South Carolina and LSU’s 27-24 win at Arkansas. The gap involving LSU followed a humiliating 48-11 defeat at Auburn.
“For us, we had a three-week layoff after a loss, and nobody was happy around here, I can promise you,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “The practices were spirited, and they were tough and physical, but we had three weeks to get better at LSU, and that’s what you saw. Instead of game-planning each week for another opponent, we spent three weeks of getting better on ourselves.”
LSU lost 20-7 this past Saturday at Texas A&M, which was coming off a three-week break.
The only team that wasn’t served this season by a lengthy pause was winless Vanderbilt, which lost 54-21 to Ole Miss three weeks after losing 41-7 to South Carolina. The Commodores did display a competitive three-game stretch against Mississippi State, Kentucky and Florida after facing the Rebels, with that stretch preceding last weekend’s 41-0 debacle at Missouri.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines Wednesday that reduce quarantine time from up to 14 days down to seven to 10 days after exposure to someone who tests positive for COVID-19.
Had such guidelines been in place back in September, would the postponements have been as prevalent?
“I think it’s a pretty significant difference,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “I think everybody has felt from the beginning that when you get quarantined and you may not even get sick, 14 days was a pretty long time, but we’ve always respected the science. I think now that there is more testing, maybe they have more evidence for what really is safe for the players relative to quarantine time and the testing.”
Georgia coach Kirby Smart believes the season would have transpired about the same for his Bulldogs had a shorter window been in place.
“I really don’t think it would have made a big difference, because it’s only four days, and if I understand it, it’s for the contact tracing and not the guys who had positive tests,” Smart said. “I know seven to 10 days guarantees one game sitting out and sometimes two games if it came on a Thursday or Friday, but it would not have impacted ours a lot.
“To some other programs it might have been helpful, but to us it wouldn’t have made an earth-shattering difference.”
Pasquali’s Pix
Texas A&M at Auburn: The Aggies have been the second-best SEC West team this season, while the Tigers have been third. The two lost to Alabama by a combined 57 points. Aggies 31, Tigers 20.
Arkansas at Missouri: This might be when Eli Drinkwitz passes Sam Pittman for league coach of the year honors. Tigers 28, Razorbacks 23.
Syracuse at Notre Dame: Fighting Irish quarterback Ian Book has a 29-3 record as the starter, including an 18-0 mark against Atlantic Coast Conference teams and a 14-0 mark at home. Irish 45, Orange 6.
Florida at Tennessee: The Gators lead this series 29-20. They once trailed it 13-2. Gators 31, Volunteers 22.
Vanderbilt at Georgia: This has to be the first matchup of SEC teams to play in August one season and December the next. Bulldogs 38, Commodores 6.
Georgia Tech at N.C. State: Former Dalton High School standout Jahmyr Gibbs leads the Yellow Jackets in rushing yards (460), kickoff return yards (205), receptions (24) and points (42). Wolfpack 33, Yellow Jackets 31.
South Carolina and Kentucky: Each of these teams was 2-2 through four games, with the Gamecocks coming off a win over Auburn and the Wildcats a triumph at Tennessee. They’re a combined 1-9 since. Wildcats 28, Gamecocks 19.
Alabama at LSU: The Tigers have been shut out four times at home in the past 28 years, with the Crimson Tide responsible for all four, including their trips in 2016 and 2018. Tide 44, Tigers 7.
Other picks:
Ohio State 35, Michigan State 12 Oklahoma State 29, TCU 28 UNC 56, Western Carolina 9 Texas Tech 48, Kansas 16
Penn State 31, Rutgers 24
Iowa State 27, West Virginia 25 Wisconsin 42, Indiana 21
Iowa 34, Illinois 13
Virginia 23, Boston College 20 Washington 26, Stanford 23 Clemson 45, Virginia Tech 10 Miami 52, Duke 19 Oklahoma 38, Baylor 17
Last week: Winners…………………14 Hermans………………… 3
Pasquali is now 161-54 overall (74.9%) this season.