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Ed Orgeron offers ominous COVID update, status of Alabama game up in the air
By Keith Farner
Published:
LSU’s game with Alabama appears to be up in the air based on the latest press conference update from coach Ed Orgeron.
Orgeron said the COVID-19 outbreak began this past week, and the scholarship numbers shrunk with players going into quarantine.
“When they tell me we’re at a certain number, we can’t play, we can play, I think that’s up to the league and Scott (Woodward), I think that by Wednesday, that should be solidified. Right now, we’re playing Alabama, we’re ready to go.”
The decision likely will come down to how many scholarship players LSU has available total, and at certain positions.
It’s the second LSU game that could be disrupted this season as a result of COVID-19 testing. Following an outbreak at Florida believed to have been caused by a trip to Texas A&M, he Florida game was postponed to Dec. 12.
Ahead of the 2020 season, the SEC released a guideline, which said that teams need to have at least 53 scholarship players available to participate in a game, including a quarterback, seven offensive linemen and four defensive linemen.
Orgeron said multiple times that the situation is fluid.
“We are dealing with COVID and contact tracing I can’t go into detail. It’s a very fluid situation,” Orgeron said. “We do have some players who have COVID and have some players in quarantine.”
He declined to say if every player in quarantine has tested positive or not.
Orgeron confirmed starters for the team were part of the outbreak, but didn’t confirm which players.
“Oh sure,” Orgeron said. “With people in quarantine and with COVID, there will always be starters.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
