Tide’s Nick Saban tests positive for virus, will miss Iron Bowl
The Iron Bowl will be without its biggest star. Nick Saban, the coach at No. 1 Alabama, tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday as the Crimson Tide prepares for its annual showdown with No. 22 Auburn. Since he was experiencing mild symptoms, it appears there won’t be a false positive reprieve for Saban like there was last month before another huge game against Georgia. “He has very mild symptoms, so this test will not be categorized as a potential false positive,” team physician Dr. Jimmy Robinson and head trainer Jeff Allen said in a joint statement. “He will follow all appropriate guidelines and isolate at home.” The Crimson Tide is set to face its biggest rival Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium without the 69-year-old, six-time national champion coach. Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, a former head coach at USC and Washington, will oversee preparations and lead the team on game day. Saban said he has had a runny nose, but no major symptoms. When he tested positive ahead of the game with Georgia, he didn’t have any symptoms. Saban ended up being cleared to coach in that game after subsequent tests leading up to the game came back negative. This time appears different. “It was a PCR test which was different than the false positive that I had before,” Saban said on the Southeastern Conference coaches’ teleconference. “I don’t really have any cardinal signs of the virus right now. I don’t have a fever, no loss of taste or smell, no fatigue, no muscle aches. … I’m the only person in the whole organization who tested positive this round.” Saban will still run meetings and monitor practice via Zoom at home like he did ahead of the Georgia game. Sarkisian will still call offensive plays during the game, but Saban said other details were still to be ironed out. “Last time I did this for three days, I absolutely did everything from home that I did in the office,” Saban said. “I just did it on Zoom.” Saban said he has no idea how he got the virus, and it wasn’t immediately clear if anybody else within the program will be affected because of close contact. Saban believes that’s unlikely “based on how we manage things internally in the building.” “I’m around nobody. I mean, I go home and I go to the office,” Saban said. “I have no idea. Now, there are some people in and out of our house on occasion, but I have no idea how this happened. We really practice social tracing, social distancing, all the things that we need to do to be safe. “We’re always six feet apart in meetings,” he said. “We have staff meetings in large rooms. Everyone is required and we all wear masks. Players all wear masks in meetings.” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn figures facing Alabama without Saban on the opposite sideline will be the latest bizarre aspect to “a really weird year.” “I hope his symptoms are not severe or anything. Hope he makes a speedy recovery,” Malzahn said. “It’s going to be a really weird deal playing the Iron Bowl without Nick being there. Just another sign of a very unusual season.” Saban is one SEC regular-season victory away from tying ex-Florida and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier for second in the history of the conference. Spurrier’s 131 SEC wins trail only Alabama legend Bear Bryant (159). While Alabama was hopeful the Tide will still be able to play on Saturday, two more Top 25 teams called off games this weekend: No. 7 Cincinnati won’t play at Temple because both teams are dealing with COVID-19 issues and No. 14 Oklahoma postponed its game at West Virginia due to recent positive tests and contact tracing. That game is now scheduled for Dec. 12. The American Athletic Conference said the Cincinnati-Temple game could not be made up on Dec. 5, even though both teams have an open date, because league protocols “would not allow for a sufficient number of players to be available for competition on that day.” The unbeaten and conference-leading Bearcats’ next game is scheduled for Dec. 12 at No. 24 Tulsa, which had its Saturday game against Houston postponed because the Cougars have been hit by the virus. Tulsa is also unbeaten in conference play and with a victory next week against Navy it would clinch a spot in the AAC championship — against Cincinnati. With Thursday’s Colorado State game at Air Force also called off, 13 games this week have been postponed or canceled across major college football. That raises the total for this month alone to 56 games directly impacted by COVID-19 issues for at least one of the teams. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama, SEC trying to climb back to college football summit
Alabama and the Southeastern Conference are trying to climb back atop the college football mountain. The SEC was toppled— at least temporarily — from that summit by the Atlantic Coast Conference last season. A powerhouse Crimson Tide team has a much shorter climb back after a down-to-the-last-breath loss to the ACC’s Clemson in the national championship game . ‘Bama has won 17 consecutive SEC games by an average of 21 points but coach Nick Saban insists “there’s a lot of parity in our league.” Despite Saban’s perspective, there’s no debating that the battle for No. 2 has been more heated than the competition for the top spot the past few seasons. Exhibit A: Alabama’s 54-16 win over Florida in the last SEC championship game. Alabama remains the decisive favorite to win a fourth consecutive SEC title despite losing four first-round NFL draft picks. No team has won the league four times in a row — or three for that matter before the Tide’s run — since Steve Spurrier and Florida dominated from 1993-96. The first test might just be Alabama’s biggest of the regular season. The Tide opens with another ACC power, Florida State, in Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “All the guys that did play in that (Clemson) game are really hungry to get back out there and play and show the world that we are one of the top teams in the nation,” ‘Bama receiver Calvin Ridley said. Quarterback Jalen Hurts, the SEC offensive player of the year, gives Saban a returning starter at quarterback for the first time since 2013. He heads a group of promising young passers including Georgia’s Jacob Eason, Mississippi’s Shea Patterson and South Carolina’s Jake Bentley. Not to mention transfers Jarrett Stidham at Auburn and Malik Zaire at Florida . In the SEC West, teams like LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn are trying to play catch up to the Tide. Georgia, Florida and Tennessee are among the East Division teams hoping to close the gap with their West counterparts, who have held an eight-year monopoly on SEC titles . The Gators have won the East crown in each of coach Jim McElwain‘s first two seasons but are aiming higher. “Getting that taste of nine wins, we now want to get more than that,” Florida defensive back Duke Dawson said. THE FAVORITES East: Georgia. Kirby Smart‘s second team has a strong backfield with Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, and Eason has a year of seasoning. LB Roquan Smith is among 10 returning defensive starters. West: Alabama. Like Eason, Hurts has big-time backs — plus star receiver Ridley — to target. The defense has seven NFL draft picks to replace but also returning standouts like defensive backs Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ronnie Harrison and tackle Da’Ron Payne. TOP PLAYERS Minkah Fitzpatrick, DB, Alabama. Versatile defender could play either safety or cornerback. Derrius Guice, RB, LSU. Leonard Fournette‘s backfield mate has center stage to himself. Hurts. The Tide is expecting him to be a better passer after an impressive freshman season somewhat marred by late-season struggles, especially in the playoffs. Arden Key, LB, LSU. Had 12 sacks last season. Missed spring practice for unspecified personal reasons. Christian Kirk, WR/RS, Texas A&M. Led the nation with three punt returns for touchdowns. His 83 catches topped the SEC, producing 928 yards and nine touchdowns. Frank Ragnow, C, Arkansas. Hasn’t allowed a sack the past two seasons and has started 26 straight games. NEW FACES Ex-Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron is back in the SEC West at LSU. His former program is trying to regroup from the July 20 resignation of Hugh Freeze while in the final stretch of an NCAA investigation. Interim coach and co-offensive coordinator Matt Luke is leading the Rebels. Alabama offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has been a much talked-about hire. ON THE HOT SEAT Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin is trying to avoid another November slump after three straight 8-5 seasons. Auburn’s Gus Malzahn hasn’t beaten top rivals Georgia and Alabama in three seasons. Getting warmish: Arkansas’ Bret Bielema and Tennessee’s Butch Jones. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
