Cardinals exploring options for fall opponent
When the Southland Conference decided in August to postpone its football season to the spring, Incarnate Word coach Eric Morris began planning for an unprecedented six-month preseason.
First was an 11-week weight training program — an exercise in developing size and strength that would have taken place during the spring and summer had the calendar not been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic.
Those12-hour weeks expanded to 20-hour weeks in late October, when UIW opened the 34-day “fall ball” period that mirrors the format of typical spring practices.
As the Cardinals worked through the grind of more preseason practice time than ever, they watched with envy as programs around the country, and even in their own city, took the field for games week after week.
So, last month, UIW began exploring options to play a nonconference contest in November or December, aiming to give players the reward of a preseason exhibition before the six-game Southland Conference season begins Feb. 20.
“It’s been hard for them to sit here and watch football for the course of the last couple months on TV, and we’re just out practicing with nothing to look forward to,” Morris said. “I’m ready to see them in action and just watch them compete. I think they’re dying inside to compete.”
While most FCS programs opted to delay play to the spring to align with the NCAA playoffs, a handful chose to instead schedule a nonconference season in the fall, or to add a single game ahead of full competition in the spring.
The Southland has been perhaps the NCAA’S most divided league, with Stephen F. Austin, Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist and Abilene Christian forgoing the spring season to play through the fall.
Morris said UIW can schedule a fall game without impacting its status as one of seven teams set to compete for the Southland championship in the spring. The Cardinals are willing to be flexible regarding opponent, location and testing protocols necessary to play.
“We probably won’t make a dollar,” Morris said. “As long as we can pay for our travel, we’re OK with going wherever, whether that’s jumping on a bus or jumping on a flight somewhere.”
The hunger to return to play, Morris said, stems from the run of five straight losses to end the 2019 season and the influx of impact transfers eager to find a role.
Already, Morris said he can “see the joy in their eyes” just to be practicing and lifting weights.
Morris waswary of overloading the players during the 11-week strength training program, limiting on-field activity and often coming up short of the NCAA’S 12hour maximum.
Fall ball practices, though, have included drills and workloads similar to those during a typical spring period, with 15 practices allowed in a 34-day window.
The biggest changes have been the protocols implemented to mitigate the chances of a COVID-19 outbreak. The Cardinals have yet to conduct an in-person meeting of the full roster, and the players are split into two locker rooms.
When the coaches need to provide instruction or explain a new drill, players remain spaced around the field rather than coming together for a huddle.
“It’s just bizarre,” Morris said. “You miss those bonding opportunities. It’s been so far from normal, as far as building that team chemistry, so our kids are dying to get out there and actually compete with one another.”
Morris said a percentage of the roster and staff undergo rapid tests for COVID-19 once per week on campus. The Cardinals have also conducted rounds of testing for the entire program three or four times this fall, Morris said, typically following a return froma holiday or long weekend.
UIW plans to expand to three tests per week during the season.
“We’re not perfect. I would never sit here and tell you we’re perfect,” Morris said. “I wish I could say, ‘Hey, we’ve had zero positives.’ That’s not the case. But our kids have done a phenomenal job, and our protocols seem to be working effectively, so that part of it has been positive.”
Morris said “two or three players” opted out of the season for Covid-related reasons. The Ncaachose to grant an extra year of eligibility for all fall sports student-athletes, and Morris said the Cardinals’ seniors have been split in their initial views of whether to play an additional season or move on to life after football.
Looking ahead to the six-game Southland season that runs through April 10, Morris said the league “did the best with what we had” given the unusual circumstances and the decision by some schools to play through the fall.
Morris said the calendar sets upwell to allow for a safe return to play in fall 2021, with a six-week slate limiting the physical toll on players. Only a deep playoff run would create complications, Morris said, with the FCS championship final set for May 15.
“Thethingido like is that we’re not playing a full schedule,” Morris said. “Just for the fact that we’re going to turn around and play again in such a short amount of time. I think it matches up.”