Ever wondered how it might feel to be in Beaver Stadium for a big football game in March? You might find out in 2021.
But this fall, there will be no Penn State football after the Big Ten conference on Tuesday announced the postponement of fall sports competition due to “ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Sports affected by the move are men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and, of course, football. The conference said it will continue to monitor the situation regarding those sports, including the possibility of spring competition in 2021.
The Big Ten appeared poised to cancel its fall slate Monday, according to reports early in the day. As the day progressed, the first Power Five Conference domino did not fall.
But that happened Tuesday afternoon. And shortly after, the Pac-12 domino fell, too, with that conference postponing competition through the end of the calendar year, which also impacts non-conference basketball games normally played in November and December.
“The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward,” Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said in a statement. “As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.”
After the Pac-12 followed the Big Ten’s lead, there are now four Football Bowl Subdivision conferences out of 10 opting out of the fall. The Mid-American Conference announced its cancellation last Saturday, while the Mountain West nixed its fall slate on Monday.
As for the other Power Five leagues, they’re still tentatively on board with playing this fall. The presidents of the Big 12, considered a swing conference, reportedly met Tuesday night and will continue to pursue a season. Meanwhile, the ACC and SEC released statements Tuesday indicating that both leagues will keep pushing, as well.
“The safety of our students, staff and overall campus communities will always be our top priority, and we are pleased with the protocols being administered on our 15 campuses,” the ACC statement read. “We will continue to follow our process that has been in place for months and has served us well. We understand the need to stay flexible and be prepared to adjust as medical information and the landscape evolves.”
“I look forward to learning more about the factors that led the Big Ten and Pac-12 leadership to take these actions today,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a press release. “I remain comfortable with the thorough and deliberate approach that the SEC and our 14 members are taking to support a healthy environment for our student-athletes.”
The Big Ten’s decision comes less than a week after releasing its full 10-game, conference-only slate. The league announced last Wednesday that it intended to start the season Sept. 5 with several open dates providing flexibility to push back the start of the season, if necessary — flexibility Warren and the conference’s leaders chose not to utilize.
In a statement, Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said she supported the Big Ten’s decision. She also lamented the impact a lost fall season will have on State College’s local businesses and, of course, the athletes involved.
“I know this announcement is one that will hit our student-athletes, coaches and staff very hard,” Barbour said. “A piece of our student-athletes’ collegiate experience has been taken from them for reasons beyond their control and for that, I am heartbroken. I do know our student-athletes are a resilient bunch and will handle today’s news with the same resolve as our winter and spring student-athletes did and be better for it in the end.”
Nittany Lions field hockey coach Char Morett-Curtiss called Tuesday a “very hard day.”
“While this is not the outcome we were hoping for, we understand and appreciate that both our conference and Penn State University have prioritized the health and safety of not only our student-athletes but of our community as well in making this decision,” Morett-Curtiss said.
Before the league’s announcement, Penn State football coach James Franklin said on ESPN’s “Get Up” that he wanted to play a Big Ten season. He also left the door open to the possibility of playing a season even if there isn’t one officially sanctioned by the conference.
“I have a responsibility to my players and their families to exhaust every opportunity and option that’s out there,” Franklin said. “I’m not saying that we should cancel the season at this point. I’m not saying we should definitely play, but the decision doesn’t need to be made right now.”
The conference didn’t agree with Franklin and the several other coaches in the league who had expressed interest in playing.
Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh issued a letter Monday afternoon advocating for football in the fall and citing the Wolverines’ COVID-19 testing numbers (11 positives out of 893 administered). In an ESPN interview, Ohio State coach Ryan Day didn’t dispel the notion that the Buckeyes could play in the SEC or against non-Big Ten opponents this fall. Nebraska’s Scott Frost all but threatened that the Cornhuskers would do that — and that’s something still apparently on the table.
In a joint statement by Frost and Nebraska’s leadership Tuesday, the university said it was “very disappointed in the decision by the Big Ten,” adding that the Cornhuskers “will continue to consult with medical experts and evaluate the situation as it emerges.”
Locally, the possibility of Pitt and the ACC pushing forward was backed up Tuesday by Dr. Cameron Wolfe, the chair of the conference’s COVID-19 medical advisory group. Wolfe, a Duke infectious disease specialist, told Sports Business Daily that doctors have enough information to manage the risk of playing during a pandemic.
“We believe we can mitigate it down to a level that makes everyone safe,” Wolfe said. “Can we safely have two teams meet on the field? I would say yes. Will it be tough? Yes. Will it be expensive and hard and lots of work? For sure. But I do believe you can sufficiently mitigate the risk of bringing COVID onto the football field or into the training room at a level that’s no different than living as a student on campus.”
Wolfe also told ACC commissioner John Swofford there’s no way to completely eliminate risk of infection.
“You can’t tell me that running onto a football field is supposed to be a zero-risk environment,” Wolfe said. “Look at all of the regular sporting injuries that we accept as a certain level of risk as part and parcel of football. Now the reality is that we have to accept a little bit of COVID risk to be a part of that.”
The Big Ten and Pac-12 clearly weren’t prepared to accept that risk. Only time will tell whether the ACC, SEC and Big 12 are.
Nubyjas Wilborn: nwilborn@post-gazette.com and John McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com
First Published: August 11, 2020, 7:13 p.m.
Updated: August 11, 2020, 7:24 p.m.
