Alabama Football: As the Crimson Tide leaves for Miami, the Buckeyes still battling a COVID problem.
Alabama Football will leave for Miami after practice on Friday. There are no indications the Crimson Tide will be without any key players as a result of COVID. The situation for Ohio State is different. The Buckeyes are expected to travel on Saturday, with less than a full roster.
Information more solid than rumor has been circulating for the last 48 hours of efforts to postpone the National Championship game. The CFBP Management Committee previously announced a plan to push the game from Jan. 11 to Jan. 18, if necessary. One problem for the Buckeyes is due to Big Ten rules, any Ohio State player testing positive since Christmas Day cannot play on Jan. 11 and any player testing positive since Dec. 31 cannot play on Jan. 18. The Big Ten has been willing to bend rules to favor Ohio State, but there has been no indication the conference is willing to bend this one further than was done when the interval was reduced from 21 to 17 days.
According to Dan Patrick and other sources, the Big Ten has been lobbying the CFBP decision-makers to postpone.
Dan Patrick’s source has told him the Big Ten wants the College Football Playoff Championship title game postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak among the Ohio State players. (@dpshow) pic.twitter.com/pGBUUkHgKo
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) January 7, 2021
Ohio State, while admitting to COVID challenges, appears willing to play without a postponement. In a concise comment, Ryan Day said,
"We’ve got a new set of challenges this week. We’re going to have to figure it out, go down to Miami and play."
Neither the Crimson Tide nor the Buckeyes release COVID details on specific players. Announcement of the available Ohio State players for the National Championship game will not be made until two hours before the kickoff. There is some good news for the Buckeyes that Unanimous All-American, right guard, Wyatt Davis is expected to be 100 percent for the National Championship game. Davis was banged up in the Buckeyes’ semi-final victory over Clemson.
More information about the status of the Buckeyes comes from the Eleven Warriors website.
"It’s unclear how many players, coaches or staff members have tested positive for coronavirus. (Ryan) Day and (Gene) Smith have continued to keep both the names of players who test positive and the number of positive tests within the program private.Day said he wasn’t unsure the exact number of players the Buckeyes will have available, but when asked whether they would have enough to play, he said they’ll have “plenty of players.”"
Late Friday morning, al.com reported both Ohio State and the Alabama Football program had received their last test results before the National Championship game. Alabama Athletic Director, Greg Byrne responded later that the Crimson Tide had not received its test results.
The mystery continues and probably will not go away until the two teams run on the field Monday night in Miami.
UPDATED: 2:00 PM CST – Greg Byrne tweeted the Crimson Tide test results are in, and the team is good to go.
If the Ohio State defensive line is significantly depleted, the Buckeyes are in big trouble. A thin defensive front will wear down and the explosive Crimson Tide offense will do even more damage.