A tad more than 24 hours before kickoff, Georgia’s finale at Sanford Stadium against Vanderbilt got postponed. The Bulldogs were ready to recognize 23 seniors and mark a milestone in a chaotic, pandemic-shortened season. It got called off, much to the frustration of administration, football coaches and players. Georgia also had its Nov. 14 game at Missouri postponed due to COVID-19 issues.
The two games are set to be played Dec. 12 at Missouri, then on Dec. 19 to close out Georgia’s regular season by hosting Vanderbilt.
McGarity received an “alert,” as he called it, from the SEC on Thursday night. He was told that Vanderbilt “may have a problem.” At that moment, the Bulldogs started to develop contingency plans. But Georgia didn’t get another update until Friday morning.
As of 11:29 a.m. Friday, the game was still on. A conference call happened at 11:30 and the news broke. Georgia’s administration was told Vanderbilt was “well, well under” the 53-player recommendation, McGarity said.
Remember, it’s not just being below 53 players that’s an issue. It’s also that a team may be severely lacking numbers at a particular position. And I’d guess when you’re “well, well under” 53, that’s a realistic possibility.
So, evidently, is this.
The SEC’s decision to postpone Saturday’s game comes after Vanderbilt failed to meet the recommended minimum requirement of 53 scholarship players. McGarity said it came from a combination of Commodore injuries, COVID-19 issues and opt-outs, and that a three-ingredient recipe such as that “is not good,” the outgoing Georgia athletic director added.
The Tennessean reported that Vanderbilt players considered opting out after Sunday’s firing of seven-year head coach Derek Mason…
“That’s the fear,” McGarity said on the hesitancy of playing the rescheduled game Dec. 19. If Georgia is eligible to represent the SEC East in the conference title game, then a makeup contest with Vandy will be deemed a no-contest. “If they’ve got that same mixture, those three ingredients still in play, you just worry due to the whole dynamic. We’re hopeful.”
Being hopeful isn’t a plan. It hasn’t been one all season.
But you know what would be a plan? Dredging up the dead horse I’ve been beating for the past couple of weeks: go lobby Greg Sankey to make an exception to the ban on non-conference games and allow Georgia to play Georgia Tech in the event Vanderbilt can’t suit up. If making sure every SEC team gets a crack at a 10-game schedule is important, there’s no logical reason to prevent the two programs from facing off.
Use some of that anger in a positive way, Greg. It would make for a nice going away present to the fan base.
***************************************************************************
UPDATE: A reader points out that Tech is scheduled to play Miami on the 19th. Checking the conference schedules for both the ACC and SEC, barring some untimely COVID news, which I’m certainly not pulling for, I don’t think there’s a way to pull off what I’m asking. Shit.
Get The Picture 