Virus still playing havoc with early-season slate
The pandemic disrupted college sports again Saturday, with Virginia and Virginia Tech postponing their Sept. 19 football opener because of COVID-19 issues at Virginia Tech.
The schools said this was a mutual agreement. No makeup date was announced for the game that had been set for Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium. Virginia Tech also will not hold football practice for four days.
The postponement is the second for the Hokies since the Atlantic Coast Conference released a revised schedule. Their original opening game, slated for Sept. 12 against North Carolina State, was pushed back two weeks after a COVID-19 outbreak at N.C. State.
Virginia, suddenly faced with not opening its season until Oct. 3 at No. 1 Clemson, announced it has moved its home game against Duke to Sept. 26. The game was originally scheduled for Nov. 14.
On its web page, Virginia Tech reported Friday it has had 219 positive tests for the coronavirus in the previous seven days, putting its total infections at 633 since testing began Aug. 3. The numbers have risen steadily since students returned Aug. 24.
The school hasn’t been releasing athlete-specific results.
Virginia said Saturday it has had five positive tests since the last update on Sept. 4. The school said four of the five positives were from students who recently returned to campus and that the football program hasn’t had any positive results since the first report on July 24.
“The safety as well as the physical and mental well-being of these young men and women entrusted to our care by their families remains our top priority,” Hokies AD Whit Babcock said in a statement.
Since the Hokies’ original opener was postponed on Aug. 26 because of outbreaks upending the Wolfpack’s preparation, there have been more than a dozen FBS games postponed because of issues with COVID-19. Three Big 12 teams scheduled to open this weekend, including No. 15 Oklahoma State, had their games postponed.
Big Ten to meet: Big Ten university presidents will meet Sunday to hear a presentation about playing a fall football season after all — maybe as soon as late October — amid pressure from parents, players, coaches and even the president to kick off.
The Big Ten’s Return to Competition Task Force met Saturday, The AP reported. The medical subcommittee, comprised of ADs, doctors and athletic training staffers, made a presentation to a subgroup of presidents and chancellors. The presentation included improvements in the availability of rapid, daily COVID-19 testing.
A vote to start a season isn’t guaranteed to happen Sunday but could happen in the coming days.
The Big Ten postponed its fall season Aug. 11 because of concerns about playing through the COVID-19 pandemic, with presidents and chancellors voting 11-3 in favor. Ohio State, Iowa and Nebraska voted against postponement.
The conference and first-year Commissioner Kevin Warren has faced push back from inside and out ever since.
Irish win ACC debut: Kyren Williams ran for 112 yards and two
TDs in his first start, grad QB Ian Book threw for 263 yards and No. 10 Notre Dame beat Duke 27-13 on Saturday at rainy Notre Dame Stadium in the season and ACC opener for both teams.
“That was a pretty good opener for him; there’s a lot he can build off of this,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said about the speedy Williams, who saw limited action last season as a freshman. Williams had 19 carries and also was Notre Dame’s leading receiver with two receptions for 93 yards, one a 75-yarder in the first half on a screen play.
“We knew it was going to be a grind, but they hung in there,” added Kelly on a day when the school announced a four-year extension through 2024 and he improved to 9-2 in openers. “We played much better football in the second half.”
The victory was Notre Dame’s 19th straight at home and the first for the Fighting Irish in a conference after 132 years as an independent. Because of COVID-19, the Irish are playing this season as a member of the ACC. The school announced a crowd of 10,097, 90% of them students, attended the game in the 77,622-seat stadium where fans were wearing masks and socially distanced because of the pandemic.