All dressed up and nowhere to go

I can’t figure out if this is good news or bad for Georgia Tech football.

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I love Athens in the spring.

Three months ago, I thought moving college football to the spring was a possibility.  Three weeks ago, I thought college football would start as scheduled in the fall, come hell or high water.  Now?  Welp ($$)…

An impending choice by a conference that plays in the Football Championship Subdivision could have an impact that stretches across college football.

College athletics is bracing for the Ivy League’s decision regarding fall sports in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, an announcement that is expected to come down on Wednesday. Multiple football coaches in the Ivy League told The Athletic over the weekend that they expect Wednesday’s announcement to be that the league is moving all fall sports, including football, to spring 2021…

Could the Ivy League’s decision regarding football be a harbinger of what’s to come at other levels once again? It’s possible. As one Power 5 administrator put it, a lot of university presidents — particularly those at top academic institutions in the Power 5 — consider Ivy League schools their peers. And they respect the level of research and expertise coming out of those campuses, as society at large waits for a COVID-19 vaccine.

“My suspicion is that the majority of presidents in the FBS are uncomfortable with the notion of playing football this fall but for various reasons don’t want to be the first to step out and say that,” the Power 5 administrator told The Athletic. “So, more than anything else, that decision provides the cover they need. I expect it’ll be a big domino.”

I’m not buying the academic peer bullshit, but the cover they need?  Yeah, I could see that.  I don’t think the P5 are there yet, as they face money pressures the Ivy Leagues doesn’t, but if the news doesn’t improve soon and the IL moves to the spring, that option may become more attractive.  What do y’all think?

“Georgia has options at this spot and they’re really good options.”

These are some options:  a guy who’s fought injuries his entire time at Georgia, another who’s recovering from a torn ACL and two true freshmen, one of whom is undersized for the college game (for now, anyway).

There’s talent, sure, but health and inexperience make the slot position something of a question mark for Todd Monken, no?

The new haves and have-nots

This is some dividing line between schools lacking medical resources…

Facing the prospect of having to pay for testing of returning athletes and staff for the virus this summer, athletic director Matt Hogue went to work finding a way to defray costs. His 19-sport program includes about 450 athletes, and with individual tests currently costing about $100, testing could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars by the end of the 2020-21 academic year.

Hogue found help from a local health care company — a longtime sponsor of Coastal Carolina athletics — that will provide free tests, at least while athletes are coming back to campus this summer.

“Some of the tools and tactics you have to employ because you are at an institution where you have to watch your dollars, that already may have you prepared to see some solutions you might not if you’re at a school that can just simply write a check,” Hogue said. “We have to be creative.”

Athletic departments can’t always count on their insurance carriers or those of the athletes’ families to pay for testing.

… and those having them, in spades.

Nebraska’s $140 million budget in 2019-20 is more than five times greater than Coastal Carolina’s $25.5 million. The Cornhuskers’ 24-sport program has about 600 athletes and is one of a handful that makes money. Although a 10% budget cut was announced recently, the program is able to absorb the cost of testing, in part because of its affiliation with the university’s medical school.

Getting a kid covered through his family’s insurance possibility versus having a program’s med school take care of it… well, those are almost the same, aren’t they?

Mr. Conventional Wisdom’s pandemic advice

What it lacks in originality, it makes up for in detail.

TFW you’ve signed a seven-year deal for a good reason

I’m gonna go with “nah, man” here.

First-year coach Geoff Collins knew the offense was going to be an adventure, with the change in philosophy to a more conventional style.

Still, he probably didn’t anticipate the struggles would be quite so bad.

Georgia Tech ranked dead last in the ACC in both total offense (294.6 yards per game) and scoring offense (16.8), while ranking dead last in all the FBS in red zone offense (60.71 percent).

If there’s one thing I’m pretty sure Coach Waffle House knew he was getting into when he succeeded the genius, it was that Tech’s offense would be abysmal because it lacked the personnel to run a modern college scheme.  And he was right!