SHORT SNAPS First thoughts
Observations, instant analysis and other neat stuff from a college football Saturday:
ALL THAT FUSS and fury this week about Alabama coach
ARKANSAS Nick Saban testing positive for COVID-19? All that consternation about Saban not being able to coach in the biggest game of the year (and the conspiracy theories GEORGIA KENTUCKY about how he might still coach via nefarious technological means)? Never mind. Three negative tests since he tested positive Wednesday proved the original to be false. He was on the sideline Saturday night.
SOUTH CAROLINA FYI: The third test was conducted just Saturday morning and flown to a lab in Mobile, Ala., for a quick turnaround. So quick that Saban was at the team hotel by 1 p.m. and on the field a few hours later. See what can happen — even in the middle of a pandemic — if you’ve got a date with No. 3 Georgia in prime time.
IN THE GRAND scheme of the Southeastern Conference, Kentucky beating No. 18 Tennessee, 34-7, won’t move the meter in 2020. But it surely created echoes across time. The win was only the third for Kentucky in its past 36 games vs. Tennessee, its first on the road against the Volunteers since 1984, its largest margin of victory against them since 1935 and its largest on a trip to Knoxville since 1893. As one Kentucky fan tweeted: “I thought hell had frozen over.” ATTENTION: Karma, angry sports goos and stuck-out tongues will not be called upon here. Only the facts. A week ago, Florida coach Dan Mullen challenged university officials to allow 90,000 fans to “pack The Swamp” for a game Saturday vs. LSU. Tuesday, the Gators halted all football activities after learning that five players had tested positive for COVID-19. Wednesday, the count rose to 21 and the game vs. LSU was postponed. Saturday, about the time Mullen had wanted all those seats in the Swamp to be filled, he announced on Twitter that he had tested positive and is in selfisolation.