First positive test came after Tigers arrived in Tallahassee, with player quickly sent back to ClemsonGetty Images
Clemson will not change its COVID safety procedures after Saturday’s scheduled game against Florida State was canceled three hours before kickoff “because the Tigers don’t believe they did anything wrong,” according to Todd Shanesy of the GREENVILLE NEWS. Clemson believes that it “followed ACC protocol, and the league agreed,” but FSU “would not play because a player who tested positive was on the travel party.” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney indicated that the player “was held out of practice two days last week because he had ‘mild symptoms,’ … but participated the rest of the week while also being tested daily beginning Wednesday.” The first positive test came Friday after Clemson “had already arrived in Tallahassee,” and the player “was immediately quarantined and sent back to Clemson.” Swinney said that there have been players “on his team and also opposing teams to learn of positive test results at the end of travel days.” Swinney: “That’s why we expanded the rosters. It’s not like we didn’t anticipate this” (GREENVILLE NEWS, 11/23). THE ATHLETIC's Raynor & Feldman noted Clemson-FSU was the first college football game this season to be postponed on gameday (THEATHLETIC.com, 11/21).
DABO CALLS FOR FORFEIT: Swinney yesterday said he believes COVID-19 was "just an excuse" for FSU to not play the game. In Greenville, Scott Keepfer reports Sinney made "little effort to sugar-coat his sentiments about the gameday morning postponement." He said, "I don’t think it has anything to do with their players. I have no doubt that their players wanted to play and would have played. And same with the coaches. To me, the Florida State administration forfeited the game.” Keepfer notes the game, which was scheduled for a 12:00pm ET kickoff on ABC, was postponed when medical personnel from either team were "unable to mutually agree on moving forward with the game." However, Swinney "scoffed at that notion," especially since Clemson "offered to move the game to Saturday night, Sunday or even Monday." Swinney: "We spent $300,000-plus to travel, we set up a Ringling Brothers tent in the hotel parking lot to do what we have to do to meet the standards. We have people travel from all over the country to come to the game. ... We met the standard to play and we should’ve played" (GREENVILLE NEWS, 11/23). Clemson AD Dan Radakovich said that there is a meeting scheduled "to discuss if the game can be rescheduled" (Columbia STATE, 11/22).
MORE OFFICIALS NEEDED? Radakovich wonders if college football needs an "on-call arbiter to be able to look at some of these things and really make a determination" whether a game can be played if things "can’t be agreed upon by the two Chief Medical Officers." Radakovich: "It’s one of those things that needs to be looked at as we continue to move toward the end of the season right now, where there’s really a confluence of not only COVID symptoms and the like but normal cold and flu symptoms, which are mirrors, in many cases, of that” (“Packer & Durham,” ACC Network, 11/23).
MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR ACC: ESPN’s Heather Dinich said the aftermath of Swinney's comments "was a missed opportunity by the ACC office to exert some leadership so that it didn’t get to this point and escalate to where you have two of its brand name schools in a public spat” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 11/23). USA TODAY's Dan Wolken wrote the "only real travesty here is that the ACC didn’t exactly have Florida State’s back when it decided, quite understandably, that it didn’t want to play." Implying that FSU is the "bad guy for saying they’d rather not risk it is tone deaf and absurd" (USA TODAY, 11/21). WARCHANT's Corey Clark wrote, "FSU isn't at fault here. No matter what complaints might be coming from the other side." Clark: "It was Clemson that traveled with a symptomatic player. Not Florida State" (RIVALS.com, 11/21).
AMBIGUITY ON BOTH SIDES: YAHOO SPORTS' Pete Thamel wrote "enough ambiguity existed to leave hard feelings." There are "hard feelings on both sides, grumbling and certainly some lingering bitterness." And the "biggest takeaway may be that this type of drumbeat over games being played is only going to get louder and louder as the season goes on, motivations vary and roster numbers dwindle." It is "completely understandable that Florida State didn’t want to expose their program to any unnecessary risk." It is also "understandable that Clemson wanted to try and do everything to accommodate to play." Thamel: "The sport is sputtering to the finish" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/21). In Tampa, Matt Baker wrote it is "natural to want to blame one side or the other," but this "isn’t an FSU problem or a Clemson problem or even a college football problem. It’s a societal problem" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 11/22).
SYSTEM NEEDS WORK: The GREENVILLE NEWS' Keepfer wrote blame "likely can be attributed to a system in need of tweaking." Perhaps the "most disconcerting aspect of Saturday’s postponement is that there should not have been an opportunity to postpone in the first place because COVID-19 tests should be administered in a time frame that allows results to be known prior to a team departing for a game." Testing the day before an athletic contest "would appear to make sense, but in Clemson’s case the result came too late, and despite Clemson following protocol and sending the player home on Friday, Florida State’s medical team balked on Saturday morning" (GREENVILLE NEWS, 11/23).
