Opportunities abounded for Notre Dame replacements in Saturday’s 52-0 win over South Florida, and not just because it’s twice as much as the betting forecasters.
For the first time this season, the Irish fighting in seventh place discovered the chains when they reached the toughest enemy they will have to face all year round, adding Clemson. This colossus of force, of course, is COVID-19.
Eight players were deemed “unavailable” in a pre-game announcement on Saturday, but only one of them, Kyle Hamilton of security, was injured. Other clues arose Monday when the university released reports that four other players had tested positive for the virus, with six others being quarantined for two weeks due to touch search.
The 4 evaluated were placed in isolation and their parents informed of disturbing development.
“It’s an evolving situation,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said Monday during his weekly Zoom media briefing. “Really, every day and every day we are informed about how to attack this virus and use all procedures and protocols,” he added. evidence. “
According to Atlantic Coast Conference protocols, to which Notre Dame will have to stick to this one-year-old cameo as a full member of the league, football groups must conduct PCR (nasal swab) tests 72 hours before the competition.
“Then fill in the blanks from there, ” Kelly.
It depends on individual schools whether they want to perform antigenic tests on a daily basis or simply follow this procedure when there is an explanation of why they suspect positive potential. In the case of Notre Dame, Kelly stated that the “high risk areas” on her list were tested every day.
For the most part, they’re the big ones in the trenches.
“When you put this set of rules together, it’s about distance, duration and direction,” Kelly said. “If you fall into those categories, you’re usually offering line adjusters. “
This weekend marks another scoop this fall for Kelly’s team: a game on the road. On Saturday, they are expected to start at an almost empty stadium in Wake Forest.
Originally, the game was intended to be played at Charlotte, home of the NFL Panthers, but the pandemic forced him back to campus.
If the start had been scheduled for Saturday night, Kelly warned that his team might have flown the same day he was scheduled to face the Demon Deacons. Instead, the Fighting Irish will fly friday night after treating the rest of the day like the day before a home game.
Meetings, sessions, subsequent meetings and Friday dinner will be held in South Bend.
“Check out to avoid all imaginable contact with the outside of your quote, no bubbles,” Kelly said. “We’re just passing through to get on the plane, fly and get in at night, get off the plane and go to bed to decrease contact at the hotel. “
In some other nod to the situation, players will be assigned single rooms instead of doubled. Then Kelly said, his boys are passing by to wake up, “throw a layer of Superman and pass over Wake Forest. “That’s how we’re going to do it. “
Not exactly, he added quickly. Players would get breakfast before going to the stadium.
Kelly said, “We eat. “
I have worked in major media as a journalist for over 3 decades with newspaper stops in Durham, Augusta, Fort Lauderdale, St. Paul and Indianapolis.
I have worked in major media as a sports journalist for over 3 decades with newspaper stops in Durham, Augusta, Fort Lauderdale, St. Paul and Indianapolis, Olympic Games, as well as the National Association of Professional Putters Championship, which is another of the Masters. Now founded in South Bend, Indiana, I’m still looking to make my next story the most productive yet.