Kelly, Swinney worried about no family at playoffs
Coaches say it makes more sense to move Rose Bowl out of restrictive California
Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney both expressed concerns about playing a College Football Playoff semifinal game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year’s Day if players’ families aren’t allowed to attend.
Kelly even went as far as to say “I’m not sure we’ll play in the playoffs if the parents can’t be there.”
The Rose Bowl announced earlier this month that due to COVID -19related restrictions put in place by the state of California no fans will be allowed at the game.
The coaches’ comments came during a videoconference call Friday on the eve of the ACC Championship in Charlotte, N.C., between the second-ranked Fighting Irish and the No. 4 Tigers.
“Why would we play if you can’t have families at the game?” Kelly said. “If you can’t have families at bowl games, why would you go to a game where your families can’t be part of it? What’s the sense of playing a game in an area of the country where nobody can be part of it?”
Swinney suggested the game should be moved to another location if families aren’t allowed to attend.
“Whether we’re in (the game) or whoever is in it, I don’t care, it makes no sense to me to put a put a bunch of kids on a plane and fly them all the way to California to play in an empty stadium,” Swinney said. “That makes zero sense when you have plenty of stadiums where you can have fans, and most importantly, you can have families.”
Swinney pointed out that each family receives a $2,500 stipend to attend games and that the families of all four playoff teams should have the same opportunity to watch the game in person. The other CFP semifinal game will be played Jan. 1 at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
The College Football Playoff national championship will be Jan. 11 in Miami Gardens, Fla.
“This is a year a year where everyone has had to make adjustments and (to move the game) to me would be a pretty simple one to make,” Swinney said. Kelly agreed.
“Why can’t it be the Rose Bowl in Las Vegas or can it be the Rose Bowl in another town?” Kelly said. “Where’s the flexibility for the student-athlete is all I’m saying. The one thing these kids have been is incredibly flexible, and then on the other side we can’t be flexible? It’s hard to imagine.”
MAC: Drew Plitt threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score in the first half, and Ball State kept Buffalo star Jaret Patterson under control in a 38-28 victory over the 23rd-ranked Bulls on Friday night in the Mid-american Conference title game. The Cardinals (6-1) won their first MAC championship since 1996, the year before the title game originated. They held Patterson to 47 yards on 18 carries after he’d been averaging more than 200 a game. Patterson left with an apparent right leg injury in the third quarter, but he was able to return in the fourth. By then, Buffalo (5-1) was playing catchup. The game turned when Ball State scored three touchdowns in the final 5:55 of the first half to take a 35-21 lead.
Conference USA: Trea Shropshire had five receptions for 180 yards — including a 71-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter — and Spencer Brown had 30 carries for 149 yards rushing to help UAB beat Marshall 22-13 on Friday night for the Blazers’ second Conference USA championship in the past three years. Tyler Johnston III was 12-of-22 passing for 252 yards and two touchdowns for UAB (6-3).