College football kicks off in Alabama
With MONTGOMERY,ALA.— masks, social distancing and mostlyempty stands, the college football season kicked off COVID-19 style.
Austin Peay and Central Arkansas, two teams fresh from FCS playoff appearances, tookthe stage atCramton Bowl Saturday night in theGuardian Kickoff Classic. Central Arkansaswon 24-17, but college football was the star of the show.
“It’s the firstgamefromthe pandemic, and so it should mean that much more to everybody. Not just the players,” said Dave Dotson, whose family drove in from Texas to see son Simeon, a defensive back for Central Arkansas.
Only 2,000 tickets were distributedat the 22,000-seat stadium, and there appeared to be significantly fewer fans actually attending. Anumber of them were family members of players.
Maskswere required coming into the gates, walking around the stadium and at the concession stands. Coaches and players also wore them on the sidelines.
Dave and Juliana Dotson decided to make the drive with teen sons Reuben and Ephraim — which turned into about 12 hours Friday because of Hurricane Laura-related detours — after seeing the precautions being taken at the game.
“Itmadeus feel a little betterabout being here,” Juliana said. “It said therewould be four seats in between each groupandtworows, so there would be social distancing put in place.”
UABprofessor of infectious diseases Michael Saag said the game would be “a good test case” for college football andother events. Both teams were tested Wednesday.
“Let’s pull back to the big picture: Everythingwe do in this epidemic is an experiment of sorts,” said Saag, who is also associate dean for global health. “Nobody really knows what’s going to happen at any event or with any type of exposure.
“We know the general principles and I think every human being on the planet can quote line and verse about mask-wearing distance. But each situation is different. I have been awed by thepower of this virusand its ability to being transmitted fromperson to person.”
He cited the number of outbreaks already on campuses of colleges and universities.
Austin Peay didn’t disclose the number of players, coaches or staffers affected by COVID-19. But athletic director Gerald Harrison posted on Twitter that the team brought 70 players as usual.
The biggest name missing was wide receiver DeAngelo Wilson, a second-team AP FCS All-Americanlast season.
“None of the individuals representing Austin Peay in Montgomery, Alabama, tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19,” Harrison wrote.
Central Arkansas didn’t have any key players fail to make the trip.
Central Arkansas coach NathanBrownacknowledged leading up to the “Week Zero” game that there had been some uneasiness with going forward with a season. It was hard to avoid thenews that leagues like the Pac-12 and Big Ten opted against playing this fall.
“This season was hanging ona threadandweknewthat we had todo things right and we knew that our players had to truly buy into that,” Brown said. “As a human being, you’re naturally going to go through the emotions of what you see and what you feel.
“But what I encouraged our guys to do was not pay attention to social media, pay attention towhat’s right in front of you in Conway, Arkansas, at the University ofCentralArkansas and base your judgment on that. And I thinkwe’ve handled things well.”