Vanderbilt had only 56 fellows available in the 41-7 loss to South Carolina on Saturday, the result of COVID-19 testing, contact and injury tracking, said coach Derek Mason after the game.
Vanderbilt was losing five players on his two-depth depth chart, including four defenders – linebacker Alston Orji, safeties Dashaun Jerkins and Donovan Kaufman, cornerback Randall Haynie – and running back Ja’Veon Marlow.
Mason declined to say how many players were missing because of the coronavirus pandemic, citing health privacy laws, although some schools publicly release their positive cases without revealing the athletes’ identities.
“It’s in the sense of injuries. We all know what happens with contact tracking, we all understand what happens with COVID,” he said. “It’s all of the above. We are playing football in a pandemic. I think everyone understands this, but as we move forward, this university is committed to not putting our student-athletes in danger and ensuring that we have the best on the list. we can to go to the ball games, if we don’t, we will make other decisions. Taking care of our health week after week is something we have to do.
Last month, the SEC set a minimum limit of 53 scholarship athletes available to compete in a game, including seven forwards (with a center), a defender and four defensive attackers.
Mason said he learned on Thursday afternoon, after training his team for 60 minutes, how his squad would be exhausted – long after the game plan was already in place for South Carolina. Friday was a typical walk-through, so there were no representatives on the field for any of the reserve players before the start of Saturday.
“This is another thing that does not benefit reserve players,” said Mason. “That’s why we tell the boys that they need mental reps and they need to make sure that every meeting they’re in with a coach is like a tutoring session. You need to be meticulous in your notes, because you never know when you’re playing .
“We are playing football at COVID,” he said. “Thursdays across the country look the same for everyone. If someone is going to make an adjustment on Thursday, it will probably be very similar.”
Mason said he knew that, at the start of the season, it could be difficult to reach the 53-member SEC limit.
“We had a good number of opt-outs. We understand exactly what it would be like,” he said. “For us to play football, our players want to play football, I think these guys have an opportunity to play good football. The key is being able to minimize what we can. That’s what we’re working for, but we” are playing football in a pandemic. This is not a bad thing. We are taking every precaution we can. With that said, you can’t control everything, and that’s probably the most difficult thing for college coaches today. “