No makeup games for CFP semifinals
If a team is unavailable to play in College Football Playoff semifinals on New Year’s Eve because of COVID-19 issues, the game will be forfeited and the available team will advance to the championship.
With COVID-19 cases spiking across the country due to the omicron variant, the CFP announced Wednesday contingency plans for the semifinals and national championship game, which is scheduled for Jan. 10 in Indianapolis but could be delayed as much as four days.
No. 1 Alabama is scheduled to face No. 4 Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl in one Dec. 31 semifinal and No. 2 Michigan is set to play No. 3 Georgia in the Orange Bowl in the nightcap of the CFP doubleheader.
Not long before the CFP announced its contingency plans, Alabama announced offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and offensive line coach Doug Marrone had tested positive for COVID-19 and were isolating with mild symptoms.
Also, No. 23 Texas A&M became the first team to drop out of a bowl game, citing COVID-19 issues and season-ending injuries as the reasons it wouldn’t have enough available players for the Gator Bowl against No. 20 Wake Forest on Dec. 31.
While there will be no rescheduling of either semifinal, the title game could be delayed until as late as Jan. 14.
If a team cannot play in the title game, the available team will be declared national champion. If neither team has enough available players by Jan. 14, the championship will be considered vacated.
For the semifinals, if both teams scheduled to play each other are unavailable, that game shall be declared a no contest and the winner of the the other semifinal will be declared national champion.
If three semifinal teams are unavailable Dec. 31, the team that is able to play will be declared national champion.
Earlier this week, Alabama coach Nick Saban said more than 90% of his team was vaccinated with a booster shot.
At Michigan, the plan was for all the players to get booster shots as a team.
Pitt picks Patti: Kenny Pickett walked into Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi’s office last week and spent 30 minutes laughing about the Panthers’ remarkable season, one that carried them to the program’s first ACC title and Pickett to a prime spot on NFL draft boards.
Narduzzi knew what was coming, so he didn’t so much as flinch when his senior quarterback said he was going to skip the Peach Bowl to focus on the next step of his burgeoning career. Asking Pickett to do anything more would have been selfish.
Besides, Narduzzi knows the cupboard is hardly bare. Not with junior Nick Patti ready to step in when Pitt (11-2), No. 12 in the College Football Playoff rankings, faces No. 10 Michigan State (10-2) in Atlanta next week. Narduzzi officially tabbed Patti as the starter on Wednesday as the Panthers try to win 12 games in a season for just the second time in their 117-year history.
Patti played sparingly this season while serving as the main understudy as Pickett took over the Pitt record book.
Johnson leads Aztecs in Frisco Bowl: Lucas Johnson passed for a career-best 333 yards and three TDs, and ran for another score as No. 23 San Diego State beat UTSA 38-24 in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday night in Frisco, Texas, for the Aztecs’ program-record 12th win of the season.
Jesse Matthews caught TD passes of 11 and 20 yards and set career marks with 11 catches and 175 yards receiving.
UTSA played without junior running back Sincere McCormick, Conference USA’s offensive player of the year. McCormick, who ranks seventh in the FBS in rushing (113.8 yards per game), was one of five UTSA players who opted out in advance of next year’s NFL draft.
San Diego State and UTSA both finished 12-2.