Cal Football: Pac-12 Networks Analyst Yogi Roth on Whether We'll Have a Season

Roth remains optimistic but says everyone involved will need to stay loose

Pac-12 Networks football analyst Yogi Roth is as well connected as anyone in the conference, but his outlook on the status of the 2020 college football season is no more clear than yours or mine.

With the coronavirus pandemic still raging, will we have games this fall?

“I don’t know,” Roth said. “My dad always told me, `Son, ride loose in the saddle.’ This is the time to be loose because you don’t know.

“When it first hit I remember talking to a bunch of coaches in our conference and being, `Man, I don’t know if this is going to happen. And (then) we kind of bounced way back. Here we go. We’ve got a plan.

“Now you look at what’s happened with student-athletes on campus . . . K-State. In a matter of 48 hours, they went from training to shutdown. The big question for me and a lot of us is what happens when it’s training camp and that happens? What happens when it’s Week 3?”

Roth wonders about the impact on coaches, some of whom are in an age group more vulnerable to COVID-19.

He calls it the “scary part” that doesn’t get much discussion, but Arizona State’s Herm Edwards is 66 years old. Alabama’s Nick Saban — the nation’s highest-profile college football coach — will turn 69 during the season.

Roth makes reference to the Kansas State situation, where 14 players tested positive, prompting the university to halt voluntary workouts. There was no comment from the athletic department suggesting the players contracted the virus by attending a party, but Roth poses a reasonable question:

“What student-athlete in college in this era is just going to sit in their dorm and go to the facility?”

Roth is preaching patience on the subject, and hopes that leaders in college athletics understand the need to remain fluid.

“I think we’ll get there and we’ll have some sort of a `season,’ and season will be in air-quotes,” he said. “And what does that look like? Is that a full slate of games. Is there a week window or a two-week window where you don’t play? I don’t know.”

Roth says he is “really curious” about non-conference games and teams traveling outside their “footprint.”

“Let’s be blunt: Teams on the West Coast, at least as of 4:41 p.m. on the 22nd of June, have done better than every other conference when you look at the numbers.”

So, does all of that ultimately impact whether Michigan visits Washington on Sept. 5 or Ohio State travels to Oregon on Sept. 12?

Roth expects that we will have answers by the end of July.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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