Ed Orgeron Says LSU Football Preparing to Play Against Florida Until Told Otherwise

Results of Wednesday's COVID-19 tests in Gainesville could determine whether this weekend's game is played

LSU coach Ed Orgeron is preparing his team this week for top 10 Florida but following the recent COVID-19 spike in Gainesville, there's serious doubt as to whether the game will carry on.

Orgeron said during the SEC teleconference on Wednesday that he would not be surprised if Saturday's game is ultimately postponed and that he hopes a decision will be made on Wednesday.

"Obviously in 2020 it's what we're dealing with and I really think the safety of the kids is the primary focus this week," Orgeron said. "If it's safe for us to play, we're gonna play. If the best thing for us is not to play, we shouldn't play.

"It would help us today, if the game is being played or not. There's gonna be a lot of doubt in our kid's minds, I understand that but we need to stay focused. The only thing we can focus on right now is to prepare to play and just wait until they make a decision."

Florida coach Dan Mullen said during the teleconference that a final decision about the LSU-Florida game would likely be made on Wednesday. 

"I would think that that would come today. But to be honest for you it's hard for me to speculate until we get the test results today as to where we're at," Mullen said. 

If Saturday's matchup against the Gators were to be postponed, the bye week on Dec. 12 would be the only available date the two teams could potentially make up the game. Just as early as Wednesday morning, the Athletic reported that in addition to 19 players testing positive, an additional 10 are being quarantined due to contact tracing.

A source told The Athletic the Gators have 29 players sidelined — 19 who tested positive, and another 10 who face mandatory quarantines based upon being exposed. Most of the impacted players are on scholarship.https://t.co/aEMvQQnuyo

— G. Allan Taylor (@GAllanTaylor) October 14, 2020

 

Teams must have 53 scholarship players available to carry out an SEC game in 2020, including seven offensive linemen, one quarterback and four offensive linemen. According to the report from the Athletic, the team has another scheduled test at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning which will be the ultimate indicator if this weekend's game can be played.

"You don't know how many guys are going to test positive during the week," Orgeron said. "If you have an outbreak like that, you gotta look at all of the guys that are in quarantine it makes it very difficult. There was one week where we spent a whole week without our entire offensive line practicing."