Saban confirms discussions related to postponing game
Alabama COLUMBUS — coach Nick Saban confirmed Thursday there were discussions about postponing the national championship game because of COVID-19 issues, though as of Thursday afternoon, the gamewas still scheduled to take place Monday night in Miami.
Saban also said there would be “difficult management issues” for his program if they had to change the date against Ohio State.
“Our school is starting this nextweek,” Saban said. “We would have had 35,000 students coming back here. We’ve played 12 games this year, sowe have a lot of guys thathave groundthroughthe season, a lot of guys that are nickedupa little bit. Another week of practicewould have beenmuchmore difficult for those guys probably. January 18th is a day people got to decide whether they’re going to go out for the draft or not. So just thewhole timing of thewhole thingwould have been a tough management. But I would have put player safety on either team as the most important factor in this decision.”
There were multiple reportsTuesdayofOhioState dealing with positiveCOVID19 tests. At the same time, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told reporters the team was still practicing and planning to play Monday.
Injury update:
Saban provided another update on the status of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who hasn’t played since suffering an ankle injury in October.
“He has been able to practice some,” Saban said. “His status for the game is still relatively up in the air, and it will probably be a gameday decision.”
High school connection: Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and Ohio State cornerback Shaun Wade are both fromJacksonville, Fla., and played in 7-on-7 games together in high school.
“He comes from a great family, and he’s a technician,” Jones said, “and he’s kind of a perfectionist in his ownway. Hecelebrateswhen hemakes great plays, but he’s more of a quiet guy and just kind of does his job. In high school, he was reallyhumble for being a top recruit, and at the time I wasn’t very highly recruited and he always had my back in interviews or anything like that. I really appreciate him and his family, and I’m just really happy for how he’s played throughout his career at Ohio State.”
Wade called it a blessing to be able to play against Jones.
“I’ve (known) Mac for a long time,” Wade said. “MoneyMakingMac, that’s what we called him. He is a confident guy. He’s a hard worker and great quarterback, and I’m really looking forward to playing against him.”